Wretched and Divine
by The Black Goldilocks
Summary: Shiemi didn't know who was more shocked, herself, because she had never heard of this prayer before, or her classmates, who didn't even think she would say anything worthy of a summon. AU-ish, ShiemiXRin May change to M for later gore and romance -Cover Art by Kaczuch-A!
1. I - Situation

**Wretched and Divine  
**

_**Summary**__**: What if Shiemi had a little more backbone? What if her Tamer abilities were those that only came once in a thousand years? And what if her summon was none other than Satan's youngest son… This is a fairly AU-story where Rin is raised with his father in Gehenna, where he isn't related to Yukio and where he already exists since the Dark Ages. **_

_**Pairing**__**: Shiemi x Rin**_

_**Notes**__**: I won't be using the Japanese honorifics. It can be fun sometimes, but I found that if I wrote in English, everything should be in English…**_

_**Cover Art: The cover photo I am using, is a painting (with watercolors) of the amazing 'kaczuch-A'! Here's the link to her Deviant Art profile: - **__**kaczuch-a. deviantart **_(just remove the spaces and add the www-part :p)

_**Disclaimer**__**: No, I don't own Ao no Exorcist.  
**_

Chapter One

Situation  
*

"Miss Moriyama, it's your turn. Just say the first thing that comes to your mind, it should come as something… natural," professor Neuhaus said, sounding like he doubted if it _ever_ would come naturally to her.

Everybody's eyes were glued to her, each with another expression in them. Kamiki looked smug, with her twin Byakkos by her side. Suguro skeptical and a little ticked off, which was normal since he couldn't summon a demon for himself. Konekomaru's eyes were the softest, with a little unbelief, but still with a less underestimating glance. And Shima… Shiemi didn't know what kind of look he was giving her, but it didn't seem like he was paying attention to what was going on, his stare was a little unfocused and he had a dreamy smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Then there were the two mystery guys. They were also looking but with a neutral expression, like they didn't care at all. Oh, and Yukio. Or rather: Professor Okumura. Shiemi almost shuddered every time she had to address him that way. They were childhood friends, she absolutely couldn't see him as anything else as 'Yukio'. He was giving her a reassuring smile. A fake one, she was sure. As kind as he was, Shiemi just knew he didn't believe she could do this.

Shiemi nodded tensely, letting a tiny pinprick of her blood fall onto the Magic Circle in her hand. She held her breath as she watched the scarlet fluid moisten the thin paper. She closed her eyes. This was her chance to show them she was capable of being a real Exorcist, or at the very least an Esquire. The first day she had taken a step into this very classroom, everybody immediately assumed she was mistaken. Being the small, smiling blonde she was. Well, she would show them.

Shiemi began to concentrate on the with blood smeared runes in her slightly trembling hands, trying to ignore the buzzing silence from the tiny classroom.

And she still didn't know exactly how it had come to her, but her tongue just seemed to have moved on its own accord. With a resounding voice, a kind of… unearthly sound she never imagined her vocal cords to produce, she said:

"_I pray thee the power to conceive in my mind  
to execute that which I desire to do  
the end which I would attain by thy help  
Prince, manifest before me  
give me true and faithful answer  
so that I may accomplish my desired end"_

The silence after her stunning words was deafening.

Shiemi didn't know who was more shocked, herself, because she had never heard of this prayer before, or her classmates, who didn't even think she would say anything worthy of a summon.

A few seconds ticked by and still nothing happened. A crushing weigh seemed to fall on Shiemi's heart.

"Shiemi… I don't think it worked... I'm sorry, but nice try." The blonde looked at Yukio at the other side of the room and sighed. There she did it again. Showing everybody she wasn't worth anything. Shiemi felt bitter tears build up in her eyes and closed them to not let them roll down her cheeks.

With a last grain of hope she pleadingly whispered: "_Please_…"

She gasped as suddenly a strong wind erupted from what seemed out of nowhere. In the middle of the room, a black hole came into being, starting from a speck and quickly growing to the size of a basketball. Shiemi felt the raw, demonic power surge out of the growing whirlpool of darkness. Everybody stared in shock at the display of such a rare phenomenon, such a rare force.  
Shiemi couldn't suppress a shudder and the goose bumps that appeared on her skin. Usually, humans could hardly sense a demon. They could react to miasma and such, feel some kind of dread or looming, but never the being _itself. _Now, everyone in the room just _knew _there was someone, or rather _something,_ coming out of that hole.

"Something went wrong! Everybody get out of the room!" Yukio yelled as he took out his twin guns and pointed them to the growing darkness. Professor Neuhaus also stood in battle position, his own decaying summons flanking him and ready to attack. He was quickly talking into his cell phone, sounding more than only slightly panicked.

All the students did what they were told and got out as fast as was humanly possible. Nobody could blame them for their fear. They weren't even Esquires yet. This was one of their very first Exorcist lessons and thus it was absolutely impossible for them to stand up against such a demonic entity.

But Shiemi took only one step back, too amazed by the sheer power that had seeped into the room. She didn't want to leave, she realized with shock. She was _drawn_ to it. If she wasn't as shocked as she was right now from this revelation, she would've laughed at herself because of the irony.

She wanted to become an Exorcist, a Tamer and a Doctor, she should _detest _such a power, she should _hate _the demonic feeling. But the truth was that she was _drawn _to it. That she wasn't even scared or even slightly panicked.

Well, that soon changed when out of the now man-sized blackness a low, hoarse voice asked: "How… did you manage to summon me?"

Shiemi's breath hitched. A nauseating fear settled in the pit of her stomach and she felt all the color leave her face. Immediately, her desire to go closer to the being vanished and made place for the trembling, and, above all, _normal_, instinct to run.

To get the hell out of there.

"Shiemi, rip your paper!" Professor Neuhaus, who had put his cell phone away, yelled. "It's your summon, it should disappear when you destroy the circle!"

Her eyes widened at the sudden realization that it – no, _he- _was indeed… _her _summon. He would never hurt her! Shiemi's fear vanished completely. Her summon stood right before her, and… and she couldn't even see him.

"Show yourself, please, and then I'll tell you."

If she had looked away from her in darkness clad summon, she would've seen that Yukio and Professor Neuhaus were looking at her like she had just lost her mind.

Yukio wanted to run towards Shiemi, snatch the magic circle out of her clammy hands and rip it to shreds. He knew that Shiemi thought it would listen to her, but oh, how was she wrong. It didn't mean that if you could summon a demon, that it would automatically listen to you. Low- and middle class demons, yes, but this obviously wasn't one of them. This was a high class. A class which was even trickier than Mephisto's randomness. This was a demon that would slaughter its master.  
High class demons didn't really appreciate being able to be summoned, it made them furious. And they would do absolutely _anything_ to eliminate the threat to their pride.

"Shiemi! Don't be so stupid! Rip the paper, NOW! It will kill you!" Yukio yelled, his voice filled with desperation.

Shiemi was confused, but didn't look away from her summon. She pressed the magic circle to her chest and yelled back: "_He_ is my summon, Yukio, not _it_! Why would he want to kill me? Give me one good reason! He came here because I asked him kindly, Yukio, a murderous, evil demon wouldn't do that!"

Suddenly, the tense atmosphere in the room lightened a bit. And so did the feeling in Shiemi's stomach. She knew she was right. She felt it.

Yukio was rendered speechless. It was true that he found it weird the demon had come when she had said 'please', but he hadn't exactly had the time to think about it when the black hole had appeared.  
He quickly snapped out of it as he thought again about the pride-issue of the demons, and the resistance of Shiemi's prayer. If a demon could ignore a summoning, then it was damned strong, and probably found it rather bothersome to kill its master. Shiemi's plea could've been an extra jab.  
A jab that could end her life prematurely.  
The young exorcist wanted to yell at her again to rip the paper, and this time, to give her a quick explanation, because he just knew she would ignore him again if she didn't know the details. But before he could even open his mouth to utter the first syllable, he was interrupted.

"As you wish…" the demon spoke, his voice sounding less than pleased.

Shiemi smiled kindly as Yukio's face became even more panicked than before. Professor Neuhaus was the only one who didn't watch as the darkness slowly but certainly became thinner and thinner, until they could see the outline of the demon. He had ordered one of his smaller summons discreetly to inch over to Shiemi. It was to snatch it from her and tear it up.

Shiemi, who wasn't aware of her professor's plan, watched in amazement as her summon finally took form. As all the shadows around him disappeared, her eyes became as wide as platters.

In the middle of the room stood a young man, a teenager even, who looked like he couldn't be much older than seventeen. Of course she knew better, he was a demon, for all she knew he could be centuries old.

Shiemi found that he looked rather emotionless, if it wasn't for the tension in his shoulders and his balled fists. She understood that he wouldn't feel at ease with guns pointed at his head.

The only demonic features he had, were half-long, elf-like ears and animalistic canines. Without those, he could stroll through True Cross and not a single exorcist would suspect a thing. He had unruly black hair, with an interesting shade of dark blue if you looked very closely. His eyes were closed, but the rest of his face was deceivingly angelic. His body was lean, but under his black, skin tight T-shirt Shiemi could clearly see the firm, wiry muscles that were undoubtedly much stronger than they looked. He also wore a pair of black jeans and black combat boots, which made him look very… dark.

"Tell me…"

Shiemi startled out of her thoughts as the demon suddenly started to speak again. She looked at his neutral (handsome) face, then at his closed eyes.

"_how_…" the demon almost growled; Shiemi had to suppress a shiver. Yukio on the other hand, almost had a fit. He had never felt such a terror before, the girl he… cared for, was in grave danger, mortal danger. The exorcists Neuhaus had called should arrive any moment now, both professors knew they weren't a match at all for such a high-class demon. But if they didn't come fast… Yukio didn't want to think about it.

"did you manage to summon me?" The demon opened his eyes, and Shiemi would never forget how only the color of his eyes could make his gaze the most electrifying she had ever seen in her entire life. His irises were a shade of blue she had never seen before. They were so light, but then again, so dark, they were so clear and open, but then again, just so deep and mysterious, that it was almost unnatural.

"I just summoned you with this magic circle," Shiemi managed to get over her lips, after looking away from the demon's hypnotizing gaze. "The prayer just… popped out of nowhere. It came as something… natural," she ended with a joyous smile. She still couldn't believe that she had summoned a demon, even less that he was such a high class. Shiemi felt happy, giddy. She had to suppress the urge to let out a little squeal and jump up and down for a few minutes. She absolutely wasn't aware of the danger everybody thought she was in.

The neutral expression of the demon slowly changed into one of slight interest; with it, the thick tension in the air seemed to lessen even more. Shiemi noticed and her smile became wider. "Do you really want to be my summon? Will you protect me?" There was nothing wrong with asking, was there?

Shiemi saw the expression of the demon morph into one of deliberate shock and disbelief, like he doubted his oversensitive ears. Then, his eyes softened, but only very slightly, since only Shiemi noticed it. (Which wasn't hard to believe; the teachers were too focused on the body language of the demon, waiting for a sign of hostility, for a tension in its muscles.)

After a few seconds, the demon nodded and then did something nobody ever expected.

He bowed.

The eyes of all the humans in the room almost bulged out of their heads, and Shiemi held her hand before her mouth that had fallen open from surprise.

"I will gladly be your summon, and protect you whenever you need me… Mistress."

Shiemi didn't know what came over her, but she had to blink a few times to push back the tears that had built up in her eyes. She had a summon! She could be a real exorcist! She was worth something after all!

"Thank you," she whispered as the demon stood straight again. "What's y-"

But before Shiemi could end her sentence, two things happened at once: the door of the classroom flew open, letting what almost seemed like a whole battalion of exorcists into the room, and a decaying hand, one of professor Neuhaus' summons, snatched the magic circle out of Shiemi's hands.

"No!" Shiemi tried to grab the paper out of the stitched up hand, but it was too quick and flew back to its master.

The exorcists that had surrounded her summon all pointed their guns and holy water bombs at her summon, waiting for him to make the first move. But Shiemi noticed as she looked back at him that he didn't look surprised at all. His expression was one of mild irritation. He had heard that they were coming, and he didn't plan on fighting.

Shiemi began to panic. What the hell were they going to do?

"Stop!" she yelled at the Dragoons, "he's my summon! You can't hurt my summon!"

"Step out of the way, Miss Moriyama. This is a high class demon that should be dealt with, they are no summons," one of the anonym exorcists, clearly the leader, said.

"But he truly is! Ask my professors! Ask Professor Okumura and Professor Neuhaus! Please, I beg you!"

The man looked skeptically from the calm demon to Shiemi's tearful eyes to her two mentors, who were both as pale as a corpse.

"Well?"

Yukio swallowed and nodded. "She summoned it."

"This is not the time for jokes, Okumura!" The exorcist growled, eyes snapping back to his target.

As Yukio shook his head, professor Neuhaus said he wasn't lying, that they both saw it happen.

All the Dragoons began to murmur things like 'is he lying?', 'they must be hypnotized' and 'well, the demon hasn't done anything yet'. Their leader clearly didn't know what to do. He had never witnessed, or even heard of, such a high class summon. And if it was truly was one, which he still doubted, then they were prohibited to attack it. That was one of the many rules of being an exorcist: you didn't attack someone's summon unless it was self-defense.

He scrutinized the girl's so-called summon. It just stood there, not moving at all. Only its eyes were calculatingly gliding over all the exorcists present in the room, glaring slightly at the ones who were pointing their guns at the little blonde before him.

"Rip the paper!"

This was the safest. The demon would be sent back to Gehenna, and he could take the girl to the Tamer Department for interrogation. They would say what had to be done.

Problem solved.

Shiemi clenched her teeth as she saw Neuhaus' summon rip the magic circle. She watched her dark-haired summon disappear with the same gust of wind and darkness enveloping him as when he was called to Assiah. But before he completely vanished, he bowed ever so slightly, never breaking eye contact.

Shiemi couldn't believe what had just happened. She stared at the place on the floor her summon had occupied only seconds ago. Her summon, who was a very high classed demon. A humanoid one. Rumor had it that they were the fastest, strongest, and well… most powerful demons that roamed the rotten dimension of Gehenna. Some exorcists are even lucky to never see such a demon in their entire career. The ones who did had used up their lifelong portion of luck for being alive. They were so rare that in the past, people thought that only the demon king Satan and his spawn had such an appearance.

Shiemi inhaled and exhaled profoundly. She did understand that her summon _could_ have been dangerous. She understood Yukio, Neuhaus and all the Dragoons. And maybe it was just because he was hers, maybe all Tamers had some kind of connection with their summons, but she just knew he wasn't evil. He… he bowed _twice _for her. A demon, be it a ghoul, a hobgoblin or even a coal tar, would _never _bow to a human.

She frowned and wiped the tears out of her eyes. She had to summon him again. As soon as she was alone.

"Miss Moriyama?"

Shiemi snapped back to reality and saw that most of the Dragoons had already left the classroom. Only a few remained and were now talking to her Professors, making notes of what they said. Their leader stood before her. He was also frowning and his wrinkles and graying hair made him look like a concerned father, itching to preach to his reckless daughter.

"My name is Katsun Yukiteru, I'm an Upper 2nd class Dragoon." He took his exorcist ID out of his breast pocket and showed it to her. "You need to come with me."

Shiemi nodded. She expected this to happen. They were going to ask her questions like they were doing with Yukio and Professor Neuhaus. But… which questions? What could they possibly ask? How did she summon him? Okay, no problem, she could answer that she had done it with a regular summoning circle. But that probably wasn't the answer they were looking for. How in the name of Paladin Fujimoto did she summon a humanoid demon?

Shiemi looked at Yukio as she followed the Dragoon to the door. She was a little nervous, and Yukio's presence would help her immensely with the interrogation. She knew it didn't go in two ways, but he was her best friend. Her only friend.  
But he didn't notice her. He seemed to be arguing with his interrogator, who was eyeing him skeptically.

Yukiteru opened the door with what seemed like a platinum key and she looked forward again. The room they walked into, if you could still call it a room, was huge. The walls were large and white, with golden ornaments in flower shapes. The ceiling was one beautiful, giant mosaic and from what Shiemi could see, it pictured a story about angles and demons. She wanted to know what it was about, but it didn't look like she had the time to analyze it now. She would try to come back later.  
In the middle of it hung a crystal chandelier, which, without a doubt, would've taken months, if not an entire year to craft. The floor Shiemi walked on, was made out of golden tiles. Who paid for all these things? The pope? She thought irritably, not knowing how right she was. There are people without a home, dying from starvation on the streets, and they walked on _golden _tiles? She balled her fists and had to breathe deeply a few times before she could unclench them. One day, when she had enough influence, she would do something about it.

Here and there stood little groups of exorcists, the Upper class. And she could recognize almost all of them. Working at the main supply store did have its perks. The best one, was that she knew almost all the big names, and they knew her as the kind, cute, little blonde daughter of Mrs. Moriyama. She knew it wasn't a very nice thought, but it could become very handy one day… Maybe even _to_day.

She looked forward again and noticed they had reached another door, a big, gold (well duh) one.

The Dragoon opened it and she followed again. They walked through hallways and hallways and hallways in which the golden tiles had made place for a bouncy, blood red carpet. They passed at least fifty doors before Mr. Katsun reached his destination. It was another golden door with in the middle the words: 'Hideyoshi Hana, Head of the Tamer Branch. Shiemi almost pouted as she didn't recognize the name. She probably had other people who went shopping in her place. He knocked trice and waited for the muffled 'come in' before entering. Shiemi followed.

In the middle of the room stood a desk behind which a middle aged woman sat. Her ginger hair was held together in a tight bun and behind a pair of typical librarian glasses were two gray eyes looking at one of the many papers that lay on her desk. After scribbling a last autograph, she looked up at the Dragoon.

"How may I help you?" she asked kindly as she laid her glasses on her desk.

"There's been a situation with what seemed like a… summoning contract, Ma'am." Shiemi noticed he seemed a little hesitant to call it a summoning. He clearly still didn't believe her, or her teachers for that matter.

The Master Tamer's look instantly became interested.

"A situation? Mister…"

"Katsun, Ma'am."

"Mister Katsun, do you mind to explain this situation?" The woman's –Misses Hideyoshi's- eyes flicked in Shiemi's direction and back at Katsun.

Shiemi found the woman sounded –and looked- a little too eager. But could she really blame her? She probably hadn't had a real 'situation' in ages, Shiemi thought sadly. Her days were hopelessly filled with boring paper work and even more boring meetings with the old and/or stuck-up heads of the other Departments.

Katsun sighed and gestured at me. "This young lady here is Moriyama Shiemi, one of the new Pages. Today they were tested for their Tamer abilities under Okumura Yukio and Neuhaus Igor All three of them are convinced that she has summoned a… very high classed demon. A humanoid one."

Hideyoshi's eyes widened and shot back at Shiemi, who smiled hesitantly and half-heartedly nodded once. She wasn't sure if this woman would believe her. Maybe she would just laugh at her, saying she must've misinterpreted an attack from one or something.

But against Shiemi's expectations, she… squealed. Katsun frowned confusedly.

"Miss Moriyama, take a seat!" she demanded excitedly. She did as she was told and took place in a comfy- looking, black leather chair. Hideyoshi's eyes didn't wander away from Shiemi's for even an inch as she addressed Katsun: "Thank you very much for escorting her here, Mr. Katsun! You may leave now."

It looked like Katsun wanted to say something, wanted to protest maybe, but how could a Dragoon Master ignore the orders of the Tamer Head? Okay, they were from two different departments, but Hideyoshi had a ranking that was high enough to be his superior, even if he theoretically wasn't under her command.

Katsun bowed slightly and left the room.

"Now, that we got rid of that Dragoon, you've got to tell me every single detail! It's not because I doubt you, don't worry!" Shiemi only noticed she had tensed up when she relaxed after these words. "Tamers just _know _when and what they have summoned. I don't mean to brag, but I know _everything _about this stuff. After my questions you can ask your own, okay?" Shiemi nodded gratefully, a little baffled because of the speaking waterfall the head of all the Tamers around the world turned out to be. "But I _have _to write a rapport about this. I'm sorry if you feel uneasy about it, but it's my job to make sure every Tamer and his abilities are recorded. Normally I would let your professors do it, but you are a special case, don't you think?"

"I guess so, ma'am," Shiemi answered. Although she would rather she didn't write a report about her, one she was undoubtedly going to discuss with several other exorcists, she knew it was inevitable. But she was relieved that Hideyoshi believed her. She understood her connection with her summon and hadn't uttered a single word about him being dangerous or restricted to summon.

"So, let's begin!" Hideyoshi announced, grabbing a pen and a piece of paper. "Are you truly a hundred percent sure you have summoned a humanoid demon with just a paper summoning circle and your blood? Nothing else? No special runes, nothing weird in your blood?"

"Uh, I think so, ma'am?" She hadn't exactly looked at her magic circle, but het professors would've seen to it that it were the regular ones, right? And she hadn't eaten anything differently, or injected herself with something, so how could her blood be any different than other times?

"Mh, do you still have that ripped paper with you?"

"No, my professor has it. It was him who has ripped it." Hideyoshi frowned.

"I'll talk to him later. And we should test your blood, too. Right after our little meeting here. Is that okay with you? Do you have places to be?"

"No, not really… But I should call my mom, though. She will be concerned if I'm not home before…" She looked at the clock on the wall. 5:43 pm. "now, actually."

"Oh! Of course, dear, here you go!" The Head Tamer pushed the phone on her desk towards her. She smiled. Shiemi really started to like this considerate woman. She called her mom and told her she'd be home late tonight and that she'd explain when she was home. Her mom started to ask questions, but as soon as Shiemi mentioned the Head of the Tamers she quieted down and told her to not make it too late, she had school tomorrow.

"Okay, back to the questions," Hideyoshi announced as Shiemi put the horn down. "Did he try to attack you when you first summoned him? Or was he trying to bribe you or make a deal, perhaps?" Shiemi's smile faltered a little. So she didn't doubt that she had summoned him, but she did believe he was evil? Great.

"No, ma'am."

"Splendid! And don't call me ma'am, it makes me feel so old. Call me Hana."

"Thank you very much, Hana." Okay, so she did believe he wasn't evil and she could call her by her first name? She didn't like her… she loved this woman!

"And your prayer? Your summoning, what was it like? Did you look one up or was it something natural?"

"It was natural."

"What were the precise words?"

"I… uh…" What were her precise words, indeed… Shiemi felt her face flush scarlet. She's never been the brightest, at all, but forgetting such an important and life changing thing? She was even blonder than she thought she was.

Hana looked up from her paper. "You don't remember?"

Shiemi bowed her head and swallowed thickly. "No, I don't, I'm sorry."

The Tamer smiled kindly. "It must've been a long one, then."

Shiemi nodded fervently, feeling her cheeks grow even warmer. She wasn't very familiar with summonings, but Kamiki's was a lot shorter than hers.

"Don't worry, it isn't a big deal anyways, just standard procedure. Sometimes there are little pieces of information in there, but I doubt we need more information than we already have."

Shiemi nodded again and tried to calm herself down a little. She would remember it when she summoned him again, then she would come back here and tell her.

"What did he look like exactly and what did he do? And I want the tiniest detail with this one."

Shiemi began to explain everything that had happened and had seen. If Hana knew everything, she could persuade everyone that her summon wasn't dangerous. And that they didn't have to snatch her summoning circle from her hands to tear it up.  
When her explanation had come to an end, Hana's expression had changed from an excited one, into a severe one. Shiemi immediately tensed up.

"He bowed for you?" she asked suddenly, not looking up from her notes.

"Twice," Shiemi confirmed, biting her lip. What was going on?

"Do you realize what that means, dear?" she looked up. Her eager gray eyes now had a disturbing twinkle in them.

"You already know demons _never _bow to their masters, right?" The blonde nodded. "This means that this demon isn't just a summon, he is your _partner_."

Her what now? Partner? The confusion must've stood in her eyes, because Hana chuckled a little.

"Don't worry, it's not some kind of ancient, mysterious, soul bound thing or something. It just means that he trusts you and that it's his own decision to help you, and not really contract-bound, if you know what I mean."

Aha.

"This also means that you should get to know him, alright? And do him a favor once in a while. This… how should I call it… treaty? It goes both ways. I don't know what you've done exactly, maybe it was just your kindness, but you did something that made him _want _to be your summon. He wasn't forced like all the other summons that would turn their back at the first second of doubt, and thus powerless moment, of their masters."

Shiemi smiled widely. She never expected something like this! She was _asked _to summon him and get acquainted! "C-could you please inform my professors about that? They wouldn't believe me if I told them," she asked, a little hesitantly, though. Shiemi wasn't sure if she could ask a superior to do something for her.

Hana smiled. "Don't worry about it, dear. I will take care of it all."

"Thank you, so very much, Hana." Shiemi was so glad, relieved even, that the Tamer Head was such a nice lady. She wouldn't know what to do if that jerk of an August Angel, the Head of the Knights, was in her place.

"Shiemi, get to know him. Treat him well. I know this sounds really selfish, but the Vatican and I could profit a lot from your abilities. Such a high classed demon… you two could become very handy in the war against the demons, against Satan, you understand? It's not all fun and games, alright?"

Shiemi nodded, seriously now. She felt happy and sad at the same time. She would become a very useful and powerful exorcist, but she would be used. That was what Hana was saying. Beware.

"From now on, I expect you on Wednesday afternoon, two o'clock, and Saturday, eight o'clock, at the Tamer training fields. I will train you both mentally and physically, you'll need it."She nodded again. "Okay, you may follow me now. You can ask me your questions on the way, but we should get your blood tested."

They both stood up from their comfy chairs and with a last glance to her with paper work filled desk, Hana smiled and leaded Shiemi gladly to the Doctor's Block.  
-

Rin had never expected something like this to happen. He, the youngest son of the demon king Satan, was summoned by a mere _human. _A young girl no less. He had been thinking about it the whole day. How could something that fragile contain such a spiritual power?  
He looked up from his pale hands and watched the red sun set under the black and broken hills of Gehenna. A few Hobgoblins scurried away through the naked branches of unrecognizable berry bushes. Coal tars were floating lazily about. It truly was a breathtaking view he never seemed to tire from.  
He wanted to sleep. But how could he? His mind wouldn't let him one second of rest. The Girl was bouncing around his brain like a hyperactive and ravenous Leaper.

'_He is my summon, Yukio, not it!' 'A murderous, evil demon wouldn't do that!' 'Do you really want to be my summon? Will you protect me?'_

She was… Extraordinary.  
She was different from the others who had tried to summon him. _Tried, _was the keyword. When he had firstly heard her chanted prayer, he hadn't even bothered to come. He was busy with… watching Coal Tars hover above his head. But the plea. It had sounded so desperate. How could he ignore something like that? Maybe the girl had been forced to summon him, and it would've meant her death if she didn't succeed. He couldn't let that happen.  
But that hadn't been the case. She had summoned him with a paper summoning circle in the middle of an… exorcist classroom. A trainee, she was. Her first try. His pride had received a serious blow. He had been irritated that maybe it was some kind of trick. There could be no other explanation. But the shock and surprise on the other humans' faces… It quickly became clear that this wasn't a trap or trick. The girl truly did it herself. And not for power, or not on purpose. She didn't even know who he was, nobody seemed to know. Otherwise they would've yelled his name by then, thrown threats and unfounded insults.

The girl was so innocent. To ask him if he wanted to protect her! She _asked _him if he _wanted _to be her summon! It was laughable. A demon of his caliber would've detested her. Maimed, tortured, slaughtered her on the spot.

So how could he ever say no to her?

The young prince suddenly realized it had already gone completely dark. Why hadn't he noticed?  
He stood up from the cool, stone railing of his bedroom balcony and went back inside. On the way, he slowly took his clothes off, sighing in relief as his cramped up tail could finally uncurl itself from his right thigh. He laid himself on his stomach in his king sized bed, letting it lazily sway back and forth.  
He should rest. His new mistress could summon him whenever she was in need of him. And he couldn't be fatigued when that happened.

Rin closed his eyes and commanded himself to sleep, knowing very well it would be in vain. But after a few hours, his eyelids finally grew heavy. And his last coherent thought was that he needed to see The Girl again.

For she was the most extraordinary being he had every laid his eyes upon.

* * *

**I really don't know if you liked this first chapter or not, so I would appreciate it if you left a review, even if you think it sucked. I don't know if I will keep updating if people think it would be better for humanity to delete this...**

**Thank you very much for reading 'Wretched and Divine'!**

**Have a nice day, night or whatever ;)**

**~The Black Goldilocks**


	2. II - Proof

**Wretched and Divine**

**Appreciation!: ****Thank you all so much for reading this story! It seriously means a lot to me… **

**Story Note: ****The romance in this story is going to be a rather slow buildup. You don't need to worry, though, this doesn't mean there aren't going to be romantic/protective moments, and it definitely doesn't mean they will be ignorant of their feelings until the very last chapter. Also, his story won't be pure fluff. There's going to be some mystery, some gore and most definitely some action. I also put in my summary that the rating may change to M. This won't happen within the few next chapters, but I wanted to warn you already. Oh, and you don't have to be afraid, by the way. You guys won't ever be traumatized by some blood and gore, right? ;) **

**Extra Note: ****I would appreciate it greatly if you guys PM me if you have suggestions and/or ideas. Feel free to share your every opinion! Do note that I already have a main plot line, or know which things I certainly want to do. But you guys can certainly make me change my mind if I find your suggestion awesome… **

Chapter two

Proof  
*

"What do demons like to eat?"

"That depends on the type of demon. Ghouls have a thing for human flesh and all kinds of Goblins prefer theirs rotten and of any kind. The most animalistic demons like what their possessed body normally likes. But your kind of demon is more like us if it comes to eating habits. They could eat whatever we do, but sometimes they crave for food from Gehenna."

"What kind of food is that?"

"Beats me. No exorcist's ever been there. And Mep-," *cough* "And all the humanoid demons we've ever talked to don't fancy answering questions about their dimension."

"How does it come they speak the same language as we do?"

"Not all of them do, but most demons who can talk have an exquisite IQ, they're geniuses. Add the fact that most of them are centuries old and I think you can understand why they've picked up almost every human language. They do have their own speech, but they hardly use it when a human is nearby."

Mh. Demons really were a mysterious bunch, weren't they?

Shiemi watched impatiently as a Doctor filled test tubes and test tubes with her blood. She wondered what they were going to do with all that blood, give it to vampires as beverage? She concentrated on her legs so she didn't start hopping. She wanted to go home as quickly as possible, say to her mom that she was tired and that she would explain everything in the morning, and go to her room. She wanted to summon him again.

"So, any more questions?"

She looked at Hana, who was sitting next to her with one elbow propped up on her knee so she could lean her chin in the palm of her hand. The blonde thought for a few seconds. For the last half an hour she had fired every random demon-related question she had ever thought about at the Head Tamer, who had been able to answer almost every single one of them.

"Yes, I do have one more," Shiemi looked down at the needle in her arm. "I sometimes see other exorcists take their summons almost everywhere they go, am I prohibited to do that? Since he's so high classed?"

When she didn't get an answer right away, she glanced up at Hana and saw her biting her lip while looking at her nails.

"Not… really, I guess…" she began hesitantly. "But maybe it's better if you don't parade around with him just yet." The Tamer looked at her. "You probably don't want to hear this, but he still could be dangerous to other people. Also, they could get scared out of their _wits_. Most exorcists don't know what you've managed to do today… And I like to keep it that way for a little while."

So apparently, the Dragoons and her teachers had sworn secrecy.

"I understand," Shiemi mumbled. "But I can still summon him, right?"

Hana laughed softly. "Of course, Shiemi. Just make sure you're alone and can rip your paper if he seems evil after all, which I highly doubt… Oh, don't look at me like that, dear! I am going to have a meeting with the Paladin and the other Branch Heads really soon. We'll brief everybody soon enough."

The blonde still didn't lighten up. A meeting with Paladin Fujimoto was necessary, which meant that she was in for quite a bumpy road. Okay, she would become a well-known exorcist, which was good, awesome even, but she absolutely didn't want the attention she was bound to get. Shiemi's always been shy and afraid of any kind of spotlight; that was no secret. She had known when she had decided to become an exorcist that she would be exposed to it on one point in her life. What she hadn't expected was that it would be so soon.

"So, that's it, young lady. You may go," the Doctor announced while he pulled the needle out of her arm and put a round band-aid on the little wound.

Shiemi thanked him and followed Hana to the door. When they stepped through the little portal to her home, the cold wind that blew over the stone bridge made her shiver. She pulled up the collar of her kimono and then tried to rub a little warmth into her upper arms. The spring seemed to have a hard time fighting off the harsh winter this year.

"I believe you can find your way home now, don't you think?"

Shiemi looked at Hana who was standing in the door frame with her arms folded and shoulders raised to keep her own warmth. The blonde smiled. "Yes, thank you very much."

Hana observed her. "You don't have to worry about anything, okay? The only thing I want you to do, is find out how friendly your summon is towards other people. I think you can understand why…"

Shiemi nodded. "I will." Although, _she_ was sure he wouldn't go on a rampage, everybody else didn't. They definitely needed some kind of proof. She knew she was incredibly lucky that Hana allowed her to summon him _at all,_ and on her own as well. Her summon's bowing must've been more serious than she had thought.

"And… I would like to meet him sometime," Hana admitted with a little smile. "You can't imagine how rare your summon or even you are, Shiemi. So, be careful and I'll see you on Wednesday, if everything goes well of course. If you have any kind of trouble or question, you can call me on this number." Hana handed her a folded piece of paper. Shiemi thanked her and wished her a good night.

"Good night to you too, dear," the Tamer responded, then turned around and closed the door, probably going back to the paper work she had left behind.

Shiemi smiled and began to walk towards the other end of the bridge, quickly.

Almost. She could almost summon him again! She couldn't get herself to think or care about everything that was going to happen. Not about the meeting. Not about her extra lessons. Not about the way people were going to look at her. Not about her uncertainty, her shyness, her fear. She was going to summon her very own summon. A summon who was hers because he wanted to be. Hers. Moriyama Shiemi, the little, blonde, weak, worthless daughter of a flower and herbs shop keeper. She couldn't hold back her bubbling laughter and began to run. She felt so happy, so light that it seemed like she was flying, even if it was neck-breakingly difficult to sprint with her traditional kimono and sandals. She absentmindedly noted she had to get a change of wardrobe, for she would be training and running a lot more in the near future.

As Shiemi reached her front door, her cheeks had gotten a rosy tint and she was completely out of breath. But her smile remained while she rummaged through her pockets for her key, only to remember she had forgotten all her stuff in her classroom that afternoon. Hoping her mother hadn't gone to bed yet, she ringed the bell twice. The lights were still on, but that didn't always mean she wasn't sleeping. Shiemi had gotten her forgetfulness from her mother's side, which wasn't very handy when they both needed to remember something. All hail the notes on the fridge!

It seemed like she was in luck, because she heard movement inside. Shiemi quickly changed her joyful face into one of exhaustion and calmed her breath. Maybe it hadn't been very clever to run. But with a little luck, her mother would think her colored cheeks were from the icy wind.

The door unlocked with a loud 'click' and opened to show her pajama-wearing mother.

"Shiemi, come inside, you'll catch a cold!" she exclaimed, sounding relieved but concerned altogether. Shiemi gladly stepped inside, thankful for the warmth. Her mother closed the door and turned around to take hold of Shiemi's shoulders. She watched confusedly as her mother inspected her from head to toe, for what, Shiemi couldn't guess.

"Mom?" she asked eventually, after a minute or so. She'd become a little uncomfortable under her scrutinizing gaze. Her mother looked into her eyes, concern clear in her own.

"Are you really alright, sweety? I heard what happened and I just-"

"How did you hear?" Shiemi interrupted her, flabbergasted. Mrs. Moriyama kept looking at her cogently. "Yes, yes, I'm fine. Nothing's happened to me," Shiemi said dismissively.

"That nice friend of yours told me-"

"Yukio's here?"

Her mother sighed irritated. Shiemi bit her lip. Now she thought about her best friend, she really wanted to talk to him. Hana was awesome and all, but she needed to let all her thoughts and emotions of her new summon out. Yukio was a great listener, and he would help her also, by giving her more advice on what to do or say to her demon. She hadn't had enough lessons on demon behavior to know what's 'not done'.

"Yukio came by and told me what happened in class right after you called. But he had to leave right away because he was needed elsewhere. Your friend looked so concerned, Shiemi, so on edge that I thought you were seriously injured!"

Shiemi smiled a little. "I'm fine, mom. Really. I'm just a little tired," she slowly pulled away from her mother's grasp, who sighed relieved.

"Yes, you're probably exhausted from summoning such a vile thing…" _Vile_ _thing_? "You can skip Cram school tomorrow if you want, honey. Yukio will understand and inform the other teachers."

The blonde frowned and shook her head. "Mom, I already told you I'm perfectly fine. I don't need to skip class." What was with the 'vile thing'? It was understandable that she didn't like all demons, because who did really? But it was her summon she was talking about. He hadn't done anything to deserve such a disgusting title.

"Are you sure, sweety? You are a little red, maybe you're getting a fever."

"Mom, I'm as sure as one can be. It's just from the outside wind."

Mrs. Moriyama's eyes softened and she caressed Shiemi's cheek."You don't have to keep it all inside, Shiemi. You know you can tell me everything, right? And if you need some professional help, I can-"

"Professional help?!" Shiemi exclaimed surprised, taking a step backwards. "For _what_?" When she noticed her mother looking at her sympathetically, it began to down on her. "Y-you think I'm in need of therapy? Mom, nothing happened! It's true that I've summoned a high classed, humanoid demon, but he _wanted_ to be my summon! He didn't hurt me, he didn't try to bribe me, and he absolutely isn't evil or vile!"

Mrs. Moriyama grimaced. "Honey, I know enough about such demons to know what they can do to a young, gullible girl like you. You can't believe anything they say."

"Mom, I'm not stupid," she murmured irritated, clenching her teeth.

"Don't get me wrong, honey, I'm glad you are not traumatized, but aren't you supposed to be a little afraid? What if you don't do what he says he comes for you?"

"He _won't_," she ground out. Shiemi took a few deep breaths; she needed to calm herself.

"And what makes you so sure of that?"

It took all Shiemi had to answer without raising her voice. She had enough of her mother's inquiries. She was training to become an exorcist; she wasn't the naïve little girl from a few years ago anymore.  
"I just know it, mom. He bowed for me, okay. You know enough of demons to realize that means something, right?"

"He could still be tricking you," she answered defiantly while crossing her arms: her no-nonsense pose. Pity this wasn't going to work this time.

"Whatever. I'm going to bed." She turned around and began to walk towards the door, to their actual house, at the back of the shop.

"You do that… And Shiemi?"

She stopped, but didn't turn back around. "Mh?"

"I forbid you to summon it again."

Her hands automatically formed fists as she had to do her best not to turn around and snap at her mother. "Well, _unfortunately_, that's not up to you to decide."

"I'm your mother! Of course it is up to me!" she raised her voice indignantly.

"No, mother. The Head of the Tamers, Hideyoshi Hana, decides. And Paladin Fujimoto. You truly don't have _anything_ to say about it." The little part of the Paladin was a little pulled out of context, but a little exaggeration couldn't really hurt right now.

"P-paladin Fujimoto?" Shiemi didn't have to look back to know the visage of her mother would be portraying pure surprise. She had to suppress a smirk.

"They are saying I could be a very valuable asset in our war against Satan. They need me and my Tamer abilities. So if Mrs. Hideyoshi tells me to summon my demon, than I will summon him."

She heard her mother sight tiredly, defeated. "Go to bed, Shiemi. We'll talk about this… another time."

"Good night, mom."

"'Night, honey."

Shiemi quickly went to her room, thinking how this was the first time since the death of her grandmother she had felt this disappointed in her. As she closed her bedroom door behind her, she sighed. She would summon him even if the whole world was against her. She _knew _her summon wasn't evil. She didn't know how exactly, but she had _felt _it. But it wouldn't matter how much she repeated this, people would need a certain kind of proof. And what could be even better proof than her summon himself?

Shiemi kicked out her sandals and put the lights on. Her room wasn't particularly large, but it was enough for her, since the only thing she did here was sleep. When she wasn't in her garden or at Cram school, she studied or helped in the shop downstairs. Her single bed with grass green sheets stood in the left corner. She would've had a bed stand, but a desk was propped between her bed and the white wall. At the foot of her bed stood her wooden wardrobe, which only held few kimonos, her undergarments and socks. She really needed to go shopping. On her desk stood a vase with beautiful white roses.

The blonde went to sit on her bed and smiled. She could finally summon him!

She grabbed her summoning cir-… Grabbed her… Shiemi's smile faltered.

Her _summoning circle_.

She didn't _have _a summoning circle.

"You've _got _to be kidding me!"

The next morning Shiemi shot out of her bed at the crack of dawn, which in this time of the year was around five thirty. She took her three steps to her wardrobe and pulled out one of her regular kimonos, an underpants and a bra. She almost spurted to the bathroom and more quickly than she had ever done before, she showered, brushed her teeth, combed her hair and put on her clothes. The blonde ran / tiptoed down the stairs to the kitchen where she quietly grabbed two muesli bars and a green apple as a breakfast on the go. And where she was going, was the weapon supply store at the other side of True Cross city. Last night she had sought and sought for a summoning circle in her own shop, but they didn't sell weapons that didn't involve some kind of herb or plant. Then, she had thought to just make one herself… if she had known the runes. Her books still lay at Cram school, so she couldn't search it up. It was out of the question to wait until after Cram school to ask one of her teachers for a few, so the best option was to buy them herself.

Running through the cool and deserted streets, Shiemi cursed her sandals again as she almost sprained her ankle because of the cobblestone road. She hissed in pain and crouched to massage it.

"Are you alright?"

Shiemi looked up to see a young woman around the twenty standing in the door of a shop to her right, holding a bristle. She had boyish short black hair and steel gray eyes that were looking at her concernedly.

"Yes, I'm fine," she said, getting a little red.

"You know, running around with those shoes is only going to ruin your feet."

"I know, but I don't have anything different."

The woman looked surprised. "You don't?"

She shook her head. The shopkeeper looked at her for a few seconds, thoughtful. "We're not officially open yet, but you could buy some new shoes here if you want."

Shiemi's eyes shot at the name of the shop: Lizzie's Footwear. Could she? She thought about how much money she had with her. She had emptied her whole piggy bank –which wasn't even that much- but it would be enough for a single pair of shoes, no? And how much did a few summoning circles cost, really?

"Yes, I would like that," Shiemi smiled.

Only a few minutes later she exited the shop again, wearing her new light blue All-stars, her old sandals dangling in her hands. It looked a little weird, under her traditional outfit, but almost nobody was up anyways. She thanked the woman, Lizzy, again and started to run again, marveling about the 'comfyness' of her new footwear. She would never _ever_ wear sandals again.  
When she reached the weapon shop, she quickly ate her last muesli bar and walked inside. The little bell above her head jingled, startling an old man behind the counter who had been sleeping. It would be around six o'clock now, and if Shiemi hadn't wanted her summoning circles so badly, she would've never gotten out of her bed at this ungodly hour herself. Thank God this shop was open 24/7 for an exorcist could be assigned a night time mission and realize he's out of regular bullets or his sword was in need of a sharpening.

"I'm so sorry, sir!" she began apologetically, "It wasn't my intention to wake you so abruptly."

The man waved his hand dismissively, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with his other one. "That's okay, miss, what can I do for you?"

Shiemi let her gaze sweep over the different parts of the shop. In the corner of the knights stood the swords, daggers, knives and all sorts of variants of them. For the Dragoons there were shelves and shelves with all sorts of guns and their accessories. And here and there stood an armor of a special outfit that suited with some kind of weapon. For the rest there wasn't much else. Arias got their stuff at the library or book shops and Doctors theirs back at Shiemi's. The best armors and fighting clothes were found at 'Tailor Tom's' around the corner.

Where were the things for Tamers?

"Do you perhaps sell regular paper summoning circles?" she asked, walking to the counter.

"Of course I do! How many do you want?"

"Only five, please."

The old man went to the back of his shop and came back with five little pieces of paper.

"Anything else?" he asked, putting them on the counter.

"No, that'd be it."

"That'll be 1300 yen, please." (10 euro/ 13 dollar)

Shiemi was surprised. They were unbelievably cheap, what maybe wasn't even that surprising. Every Tamer should be able to make his own... She mentally cursed herself and her inability to remember vital things.

The blonde handed over the money and immediately got excited again as she took the circles. She quickly thanked him and ran out of the shop. As the blonde spurted through the beautiful streets, she saw that people had started to wake up. Mostly old people who were waiting in front of the bakery or impatiently standing before a still closed fruit stand. It was funny, though. Retired people had the entire day to do as they please, and still they stood up at six o'clock to get all their shopping done before the rest of the world even woke up.  
Shiemi stopped as she reached an unused door of an abandoned house and opened it with her mother's shop key. She ran over the bridge and through the shop to her room. Her mother should be gone by now. On Tuesdays she always had to leave at six thirty for all the deliveries she had to take care of at the post station. And since she hadn't heard her yelling Shiemi's name for being too loud, she was.

She closed the door behind her and leant against it. This is _finally _it, she thought while sighing happily. She had the summoning circles. She was alone. She wouldn't be disturbed.

Shiemi pushed herself from the door and put four of the five summoning circles on her desk. She stood in the middle of her tiny room, grinning goofily at the tiny piece of paper in her hands. She breathed slowly and profoundly a few times, then, with her teeth, she reopened the little wound on her finger from the day before. Smearing her blood over the runes, she began to chant. She didn't have to think about it at all since the prayer came to her in the same way it had done before.

Shiemi stumbled backwards a few steps, her platinum hair whipping around her head, as the same gush of wind as before erupted from the darkness that began to grow right before her. Just as the last time, she was in awe when her summon took form. There he stood. Right before her. In his simple, dark attire, in an almost feline-like posture which made that he looked lean and graceful even if he stood still, with his midnight black, tousled hair, electrifying, cobalt blue eyes focused on her own.

Shiemi smiled, and her summon's eyes that were firstly looking at hers emotionlessly, softened, just like they had done before.

"You summoned me, Mistress?"

Shiemi's smile widened. Yes, she had. And she still couldn't quite believe it.

"Yes, I- I want to thank you again. For wanting to be my summon I mean," she began to feel a little embarrassed. The demon before her was one of the strongest type, and one of the smartest too, if she had to believe Hana. She felt so small and insignificant under his centuries old gaze. How could they, humans, feel superior to _this?_

Her summon let out a breath, almost smirking. "You really don't have to, Mistress."

She frowned. "Yes I do! You have absolutely no idea how grateful I am to you. Oh, and please, call me Shiemi." At first she had found it amazing to be called mistress by her summon, but now it just felt wrong. They were supposed to be partners, right?

He nodded. "Then Shiemi it is."

"What's your name? I had meant to ask it before, but we were… uhm, interrupted."

He didn't respond immediately. What Shiemi didn't know, was that it was from sheer surprise. "… It's Rin."

"Rin…" she tested out. It was a nice name she, if she was honest, never expected a demon to have. She had always thought they had mysterious names, or ancient ones. "So…" Shiemi absolutely didn't know what to do now. She had so many questions about his life, about Gehenna, about being a demon. But it wasn't wise to ask these questions just yet. They should get to know each other better. "Do you… want a snack or something?"

Rin's eyes, that had been busy observing Shiemi's white roses, immediately shot at hers, lit up with interest.

Shiemi couldn't suppress a chuckle. Demon or not, boys will be boys when it came to food. "Follow me, please."

Shiemi walked downstairs to the kitchen, almost skipping from the joy she was feeling because of Rin. But she refrained from doing such a childish thing as she remembered having said demon walk right behind her. He seemed relaxed enough, but still so on edge. And she absentmindedly wondered how hard it would be to make him smile.  
The blonde glanced over her shoulder at Rin, who was following her on the foot. He was touching the wall of the staircase with his fingertips, sliding over it on his way down. He had his nose raised in the air and had a disgusted look on his face. He sneezed.

"My mother owns the main supply store of the exorcists here," she said, knowing all the demon-repelling and poisonous herbs would smell absolutely horrendous to him.

"Great," he commented ironically, wrinkling his nose.

Shiemi looked back forward to hide her smile.

As they reached her kitchen, Shiemi suddenly remembered her conversation with Hana: 'What do demons like to eat?' She turned around. "What do you like to eat?"

Rin shrugged, looking around her kitchen. It wasn't really big, but it was beautifully decorated, if she said so herself. It was really cozy and filled with all sorts of herbs and eatable flowers. Which reminded her she had to work in her garden this afternoon.

"I eat about everything," Rin said as he sat on the kitchen counter, still letting his eyes roam around the room.

Shiemi opened the refrigerator and found some onigiri. He handed one to Rin, took one for herself, and put the plate with six others next to him.

"Say, I have a question…" she began, leaning with her back against the counter opposite of Rin's while watching him munch on his rice ball.

"Fire away," he answered with his mouth full. Shiemi had to smile again and found she did it a lot today. From her first summoning up till now, Rin had changed from 'mysterious and superior' to 'boyish and funny' in Shiemi's mental ranking.

"The Head of the Tamer Branch here, Hideyoshi Hana, told me you chose to be my summon. Why?" Shiemi watched impatiently as Rin swallowed his food. The only time in her life that she had been this curious, was when her grandmother had told her about Amahara Garden. But as she saw Rin's eyes become hard again, she knew she wouldn't get an answer.

"I have my reasons," he said eventually, looking her in the eye. "They're not very interesting to you at all, I'm sure."

How would she know if he didn't tell her? Shiemi wanted to know it _so_ badly, but she let it drop.

"How's the onigiri?" she tried to change the subject. Real smooth, Moriyama, she thought to herself, face palming mentally.

Rin seemed thankful for the new question, though. "It's really good. I wish we had these things back in Gehenna."

Shiemi internally jumped. This was her chance! "What's the food like over there?"

Rin took another bite and then smirked. "Simply horrid."

She laughed. "Is it really that bad?"

"You have no idea," Rin rolled his eyes. He wolfed down another rice ball.

Shiemi took a bite from her own as she watched him eat. Rin really was something. And she never expected that something to have a sense of humor. This demon was absolutely no threat to other people. Shiemi felt like she was just talking to another human. If she would take him with her to Hana, she would convince everybody Rin wasn't evil.

"What do you want in exchange for being my summon?" Shiemi asked. Hana had said that had a sort of treaty. He would be her summon, but he expected something in exchange.

Rin looked at her confusedly.

"You know, you protect me and help me with my missions, and I'll return the favor in one way or another. That's only fair, don't you think?"

He pondered over it for a few seconds while munching on yet another rice ball. "Maybe, yeah," he said after swallowing.

"Great! So, what can I do for you?"

He thought for a moment, taking another bite from his onigiri. "Let me stay here in Assiah when I want, for as long as I want."

Shiemi was surprised. He wanted to stay in Assiah? An alarm bell began to go off in Shiemi's head.

"I would accept, but…" The right corner of Rin's mouth pointed down. "Hana told me to keep you a secret for the time being. You can't be seen."

Rin sighed disappointedly, leaning his chin in the palm of his hand. "I thought this would happen," he grumbled, clearly irritated. "Was that everything she said?"

Shiemi shook her head. "Nope. She told me she was going to have a meeting with the Paladin and other Branch Heads, and that the other exorcist would be told very soon."

Rin nodded. "Okay, I can live with that."

"You know what? I'll call her right now to tell her you are not evil or volatile," Shiemi said while taking her cell phone out of her pocket. She had already added Hana's number to her contacts and just ticked on her name to call. Rin was looking at her -and her cell phone- confusedly.

_"Hello?"_

"Good morning, Hana, it's Shiemi here."

"_Oh! Good morning to you too, dear! What's the problem?" _

"There's not really a problem. I've just summoned him, his name is Rin and he's wonderful! You don't have to worry about him going on a murderous rampage or something."

_"That's great! The meeting is this evening and I'll make sure your summon is legalized!"_

"That's great! Thank you very much!"

_"You're welcome, dear. But I got to go now, work's calling..."_

"Okay, see you Wednesday."

_"Yes, see you then!"_

Shiemi pressed the decline button and then looked at Rin. "Did you hear that? Everything is going to be just fine!"

Rin nodded absentmindedly, pointing at her cell phone. "What's that?" he asked.

Shiemi looked at her old Nokia, then back at Rin. "It's a cell phone," she stated, eying him oddly.

"What's a cell phone exactly?"

"Now you're pulling my leg," Shiemi laughed half-heartedly.

He shook his head.

"How long's it been since you last visited Assiah?" Maybe he only remembered the Old Romans, or the Dark Ages.

"I've never visited Assiah before."

"You _what?!__"_

* * *

**Thank you very much for reading the second chapter of Wretched and Divine!**

**Right now, everything is progressing a bit slowly, but you don't have to worry! In a few chapters the plot line will become clear and the action will start to show itself. I don't know yet how long this story is going to be, but there are definitely going to be more than ten chapters with this length. **

**Have a nice day, night or whatever!**

**~Blue Goldilocks**


	3. III - A Coward After All

**Wretched and Divine**

**Appreciation: Truly… I never would've thought this story would get this much readers. I am so so so so so so so grateful to you all! Thank you so much!**

**Story Note: Okay, guys, I guess there isn't very much RinXShiemi in this chapter, but I needed this little piece for the plot. You know, the thing your whole story revolves about? This wasn't a very long chapter, either, and I'm truly sorry for that. I had a few busy days, which left me unable to write much more than a few lines…**

**Anyway! Enjoy the third chapter of Wretched and Divine! **

Chapter Three

A Coward After All

Rin rubbed his face, slowly walking to his beloved balcony back in Gehenna. Only seconds ago, he had materialized on the exact same spot in his bedroom as when he was summoned to Assiah.

He needed to see the mountains again, he needed to clear his mind.

The young prince sat on the cool stone balustrade and sighed, dragging a hand through his messy hair. He looked at the low-class animalistic demons that ran over the frozen rocks of the mountain, leaving their tracks in the gray snow.

Rin inhaled profoundly, relishing in the freshest air in the whole of Gehenna. The sun, that had begun with its climb, tried to make the individual crystals of the snow sparkle through the misty air, making these mountains even more breathtaking than they already were. These were _his _mountains. Although they were as dead and rotten as the rest of this putrid dimension, it was here that he had made his fondest memories. He smiled wistfully with the thought that this corrupt kingdom did have a few light spots. Very few.

His mountains were huge and rough. The weather at the peak was harsh, and even demons didn't like such a cold and desolate place. But it was right here, in the middle of the most dangerous mountain chain, on the top of its highest peak, of the shadowed Mount Everest, that Rin had his own castle. Every son of Satan had one, and his youngest was no exception. It was true that he wasn't one of the Baal, the Eight Demon Kings, but he too, had his share of power and influence. He too was recognized by their people. Err… demons.

Astaroth, King of Rot, had his palace in the shadowed version of some forest in Europe. A warm, yet humid place that was just perfect for his favorite past time and thus title.

Beelzebub, who was the King of Insects, had lost his heart, for what it was worth, in the Amazon Jungle.

The King of Spirits, Azazel, had built his castle in Motuo County, China. Even in Assiah this was a desolate place, untouched by modern world. It was a Herculean task to get there, as you can only reach it by grueling overland routes and crossing the frozen paths of his Himalaya.

Nobody really knew where Egyn, King of Water, had placed his palace. All that was known, was that he had withdrawn himself into the vast depths of the oceans.

The Earth King Amaimon had his built into the ground, only reachable through one of the many caves of the Grand Canyon.

Dallol, Ethiopia was a scorching place with the highest average annual temperature ever recorded. It was perfect for Iblis, for he was the King of Fire.

Samael… Rin didn't know where one of his oldest brothers' palace was. The King of Time and Space must've been the most mysterious of them all, if you counted out the eight and last brother.

The Nameless brother Rin knew _nothing _about.

Nobody wanted to talk about him, and if they wanted to, they knew only he had vanished centuries ago. He hadn't died, for the Baal were bestowed with a sort of bond that told them when one of them was in mortal danger. Rin had searched for him a few decades ago, after he had been hit with an aggressive boredom. He had traveled through all the lands, had read every book that could've contained a single word of information, but if the Nameless King didn't want to be found, you wouldn't even been able to even if he was lounging right under your nose.

Rin let his tail out of his jeans and sighed relieved. He still wasn't used to keeping it hidden since he had only begun to hide it a few decades ago. For humans, that sounded like an awfully long time, but for the average demon it meant nothing. All of his brothers could keep their tails rolled up forever, but they had all had a few _millennia. _Rin wasn't even as old as one.

Maybe it also had to do with the fact that he wasn't a full demon. He may have been raised in Gehenna, had accepted his heritage from the very first second, but it was noticeable that he wasn't one of them. Not really. There were tiny details, but those ruddy things just did it. His dislike for Gehennian food, his less than cooperative tail and his lack of… ruthlessness, made him stick out with head en shoulders. His Father wasn't particularly happy about it…

Rin shook his head sharply to rid it from those thoughts. As he noticed he had begun to trace a long, thin scar on his upper right arm, he quickly jerked his hand back. Sighing, he dropped that hand in his lap.

He let his mind wander to his little, blonde mistress. Shiemi. He had had to leave when her mother had come home, yelling for Shiemi to help her with the new stock. She had looked wide eyed at Rin, pleadingly and sadly. It had sent the umpteenth current of electricity through his body that day. So he had nodded, also quite sadly, and with a last 'thank you' and 'goodbye', she had ripped the summoning circle.

Why was she so kind? Humans were supposed to be evil. Pride, Wrath, Envy, Sloth, Lust, Gluttony and Greed. They were hungry for power, and devoured themselves by their seven deadly sins. They wanted them, demons, dead. They wanted to use them to kill their own kind. They had begun a war against Gehenna and they would pay the price, but...

That was what Father said.

He had believed his father for a short while, for when he was still a kid, gullible and innocent… or as innocent as a young demon child could be. He had heard his older brothers' talk about the humans of Assiah. It were horrible stories of demon slaughtering, holy water and slaves. He had truly believed all humans to be evil and vile.

But… Samael had been different. He had told him about the other things. The humans who fought for their lives and the ones they love. The humans who kept themselves busy with gardens, music, plays, poetry…. Rin had been thirteen at that time and as stubborn as an Assiahn ass. He hadn't believed it. Samael had just smiled and tousled his hair, saying he would see for himself one day. Then he had left, and Rin hadn't seen him since.

Of course he had begun to think about it. That was the annoying thing about the King of Time and Space: he fucked with your mind. Were humans truly all bad? A little voice in his head had said that it would be a ridiculous thing to doubt Father. And all the books he had read until then, of course. Everyone and everything told him he should despise humans.

But Samael… And he had never met a human himself… Plus, over the years he had spent with his Father and Brothers, it… quickly became transparent that they weren't the demons he thought they were when he was little.

Rin scowled at his hands. No. They _definitely _weren't. The young prince looked up at the cloud filled sky, grimacing at the dark colors.

Shiemi. Little, blonde, smiling, innocent Shiemi. She wasn't evil.

Rin's tail began to swish dreamily back and forth as he thought about the food he was given. He had no idea what it was, but it couldn't be anything else but made in heaven, for how ironic that might sound. Amaimon had given him some candy a century back, when he had wanted Rin to do something for him. And those sweets had also been simply _divine_. Rin had become an instant fan of Assiahn food. The only problem was that he had to rely on other demons to get it for him, which was an awfully difficult task as Father was the one who reigned over the Gehenna Gate. Demons could reach Assiah by possessing something or someone, but the food could only be transported by the real deal.

Rin had lost the count of how many high ranked demons he had to bribe in order to get a chocolate bar, or a ham and cheese sandwich. It wasn't exactly illegal to transport Assiahn things, but normal demons usually detested anything that had something to do with humans. It was fortunate Rin had the title of Prince and a lot of zeroes on his banking account.

He wanted to go back there. The disparity with his own dimension was even bigger than he had ever thought. Assiah was so illuminated, the air was fresh, from what he could see through the windows the sky was open… It looked like an interesting and adventurous place.

But it _did _smell horrible. He really hoped it was the herbs and not the dimension itself.

He wanted to get back there and let Shiemi explain everything he didn't know, just like with that cell phone-thingy.

As Rin let his gaze lazily glide over his snowy mountains, a dark spot in the distance caught his eye. He focused on it and saw it become larger with the second. Someone was coming.

The prince immediately jumped up and then from his balcony, dropping ten meters before landing gracefully on the probably meters thick snow layer on the ground. He was careful he didn't sink through as he began to run towards the more and more distinguishable dot. As he finally had come close enough, he recognized the demon who was wearing a thick, black cloak.

It was a messenger. His Father's messenger.

Rin scowled. He didn't have time for this. Shiemi could summon him any time now. As soon as she got rid of her mother, at least, that was what he had deducted from her facial expressions earlier.

"Mercurius, what's your message," Rin demanded as they stood opposite each other. Mercurius had been Father's messenger for centuries, and a quite good one at that. He was the fastest runner of Gehenna, excluding Satan and his spawn. He looked like an average humanoid demon. Long, elf-like ears, sharp canines and deadly claws. He had half long, brown hair that was always tied together in a pony tail, now hidden beneath the hood of his cloak, just like his slim, lean body, trained for his long travels.

"My Prince, Lord Satan requests your presence at the Ninth Circle," he said, bowing. He also had been running, but wasn't even breathing any harder from sprinting up his mountain. What he did do, was shiver. His lips were blue tinted and Rin saw him rub his fingers under his cloak for he would otherwise get frostbitten. Rin didn't have that problem, as he was standing there in his thin T-shirt. The blue flames inside of him kept him warm.

Panic started to coil into the pit of his stomach. He couldn't have felt it. He didn't have that power. He couldn't know. He couldn't know. He couldn't. "Did he state his reason?"

"No, my Prince," Mercurius answered as he stood back straight, still looking down at the slimy snow. The messenger's normally emotionless visage was now slightly showing a frown.

Rin grimaced and his panic started to make him feel nauseous. He _couldn't_ know. "Which… emotion was he portraying, Mercurius?"

The messenger grimaced also, then, looked him straight in the eye, a gesture which was highly frowned upon for you didn't look into the eyes of those with royal blood. "Lord Satan was… not pleased, my Prince."

Rin nodded tensely, and without another word, he walked past his Father's messenger.

He _knew._

Rin clenched his fists and started to run to his most hated place of all dimensions.

The capital city of Gehenna: Hell.

* * *

"Thanks for the help, darling. You must hurry now, Cram school is about to start, no?"

Shiemi glanced up to her mother who stood right before her, irritated. She sat behind the counter of their shop, counting the money from her 'shift'. After helping with dragging the new stock into the shop, she had to help put everything away. Then, her mother had asked her to make lunch, where after she had to do the dishes and clean the kitchen, while Mrs. Moriyama was sitting at the table of said kitchen, doing some paper work. Then, she just _had_ to tend her garden. She couldn't stall that anymore, and since it was outside… She had done everything so quickly, so that she could summon him as soon as possible, but no… Her mother just had to go shopping and therefore needed her in the shop. The whole freaking afternoon.

"Yes," Shiemi answered, standing up, "Shima can be here any second." Since she had left her key in class, she couldn't get there anymore. And the only phone number she had gotten from her classmates was Shima's. She had wanted to call Yukio, firstly, but he had been quite busy lately. She didn't want to disturb him.

Mrs. Moriyama smiled softly, patting Shiemi lightly on the head. "It's good to hear you're making friends, honey."

Shiemi had to suppress the urge to lean away from her mother's touch. She wasn't a little girl anymore. She didn't want to be _patted _on the head.

The blonde answered with a noncommittal 'mh'.

Then, her mother left the shop, saying for the fifth time that evening that she would be home next Saturday. She had been invited to the yearly Herb and Flower Gathering, a very big convention in South America. Shiemi would've come with her if it wasn't for her exorcist training, because it was simply _amazing_.

Shiemi wished her a good journey and stood up to get ready for class. She couldn't believe she had to wait another few hours to summon Rin.

Tonight, Hana would call her. And then she could finally let Rin stay here as long as he wanted to.

* * *

He knew. _He_ knew. He _knew_.

That was the only thing that was going through Rin's head as he was sprinting through the decaying mountains, forests, fields and towns of Gehenna. He let his flames out a little, so that he immediately would be recognized and respected by the demons he came across. Most of them didn't like others trespassing their domain, but the blue flames let them think twice before they dared to attack. Not that they would stand a chance of course. That was just why they used their brains for once.

Rin growled out of frustration. He had been so incredibly stupid! He hadn't thought for a single moment that this could happen. He clenched his fists and teeth. He didn't want to admit it, not even to himself. But he couldn't ignore the nauseating panic and _fear _that was not so slowly building up in his stomach. Because he _knew. _

The Prince's heart skipped a beat as he saw the pitch black rocks in the distance. He was almost there, and he couldn't help but feel like he should just turn around and go back to where he had come from. But it wouldn't make any difference, really. Running to or from would have the exact same outcome: punishment.

As he almost reached the Ancient Stones, Rin put out his flames, wishing he had brought a cloak with him. He was bound to get attention if he were to just stroll into Hell. But there was no use crying over spoilt milk, he had a father to visit.

He stepped up the few stone stairs to the giant Gate of Hell. It sounded a lot more ominous than it was in reality. It was made of a pitch black, eras old stone that could only be found in Gehenna, beautifully crafted and ornate with what seemed to be a story about angels and demons. Rin always stood a few minutes there, before the meters high door, reading the old legend. But not today. He didn't have the time for it.

The gate stood wide open, showing the many stairs down to Limbo and letting a stream of demons in and out almost constantly. There were all sorts of demons, also the not humanoid ones. In this Circle of Hell, the First one, every demon was welcome. You could find almost anything you were looking for there. Demons went there to find jobs, or simply to go shopping or visit old friends. The deeper you went, and the higher the number of the Circle, the more demons were prohibited to proceed.

Rin decided to just go with the flow of oncoming demons, already starting to ignore the few stares he was given. He blended in and hoped they would just mind their own business.

Everything went well, firstly, since most demons didn't really like to pay attention to others. But the humanoid ones, unfortunately, _didn't_ like to mind their own business, and started to nudge the ones that stood beside them, who then followed their gaze and landed upon Rin. He heard them whisper. Talking in hushed tones. He wanted to just ignore it, block it out. But his elf-like ears were just too sensitive.

"It's the Young Master! What's he doing _here _of all places?"

"… Prince Rin's back? But I thought he…"

"… got to be shitting me. There's something going…"

"… don't think he's here for _that_, right?"

Said Prince sighed and picked up his pace, pushing away the demons walking slowly in front of him none too gently. Some looked like they wanted to protest and put him in his place… until they saw who they were up against.

Rin hated the look of mortification that always appeared on their faces. They feared him. He was sure of it. With his cloak, he could always blend in smoothly, be one of them for a short period of time. But without, they looked at him with awe and fear, stepping aside to make the road free for him to pass.

This time wasn't an exception. Every single demon scrambled away, leaving his path demon-free. Rin grimaced and went on his way.

He kept his gaze locked right before him as he firmly walked through the Gate and down the dark stairs.

The Nine Circles of Hell were divided in just that: nine circles. The First Circle, also known as Limbo, was fairly high in comparison to the Ninth, also called The Circle of Treachery, which lay kilometers under the surface. The names of the other Circles were the Circle of Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, and Fraud respectively. Nobody called it that anymore, though. These were the names given by the demons who inhabited those Circles since millennia ago. These were the unofficial names the more rebelling demons used, especially as the Circle of Fraud and Treachery were mentioned.

Rin ignored everything and everyone he came across. He wanted to reach his Father's castle as soon as possible, just to get it all over with. He passed the filthy houses and schools of Limbo, the brothels and dirty cafés of Lust, the restaurants and markets of Gluttony, the shops and banks of Greed, the prisons and academies of Anger, the operas and amphitheaters of Heresy, the fighting rings and stadiums of Violence and the expensive villas and penthouses of Fraud. Then he reached the last Circle. The only demons allowed to take a step inside these walls, were from the royal family and their servants.

The Gate stood slightly open, barely enough for Rin to fit through. Satan didn't like to swing this Gate all open, just out of principle.

Rin looked up at his father's castle with disdain. The best three words to describe the building were huge, gothic and expensive. This was the place where he had made his… least fond memories.

The young prince crossed the bare, black castle grounds to the giant entry, walking past the many statues of famous demons. His panic had completely vanished, leaving him emotionless and numb. Just like he always tried to be as he 'visited' the Lord of All Demons.

He entered the castle and only passed a few servants who were busy doing their chores, but no soldiers. Why would Lord Satan have a guard at his castle if no bloody demon would ever think of trying to harm him, fearing (knowing) it would only result in a very painful death?

Rin now stood before the closed doors of the Demon Lord's throne room, mentally preparing himself. To his right stood a male servant, bowing and saying Lord Satan was expecting him. The Prince nodded and waited numbly as another servant opened the big doors for him.

The Throne room was just like the three words that best described his castle. It was very dark, with only blue flames lighting the torches on the walls and the very few chandeliers. If he didn't know better, Rin would've said it looked rather eerie. Rin began to walk forward to the throne which stood in the very back of the room, keeping his gaze locked right before him. It was only when he stood on the respectable place and distance from the throne that he looked up at the demon occupying it.

His Father didn't look like most demons, and almost certainly not like most humans, thought. At the first glance, he had the appearance of an average humanoid demon: long, elf-like ears, fierce canines and long nails. But he had blue flames that were burning as two horns on his head and in his eyes. Nobody really knew how old the Lord of All Demons was, for there was no demon older than Satan himself. Rin thought he looked like a fairly old one, considering it took thousands of years for the average humanoid demon to look older than thirty human-years old. Samael had told him that their Father looked like he was fifty in human years, because of the slight wrinkles and graying roots of his once pitch black, shoulder length hair.

Rin looked remarkably like his Father, unfortunately. Their facial features were almost the same, with the slight difference of age and influence of Rin's mother, which included his rounder face and the shape of his eyes.

His Father wore his usual attire: a black Gehennian suit, with tie and all. Gehennian clothes were very similar to the Assiahn. Only did demons not care very much about what they were wearing. Pieces of clothing didn't go together, the size was only very rarely correct, colors, usually the darker ones, would clash, rips and holes in the fabric didn't matter and neither did dirt. But those of a higher Circle usually made sure they looked a little less eccentric.

Satan sat on his throne with an uninterested, bored look, his head resting in his hand which was propped up on it. His fiery eyes locked with Rin's, and the Prince had to do his best to keep his comfortably numb state as it was. But he knew it wouldn't be long before fear started to seep through.

"My Son…" Satan suddenly began, his voice deep and almost emotionless. A shiver almost ran down Rin's spine. "It's been an awfully long time since I've seen you last… A three hundred years, if I'm not mistaken?"

"Two hundred and ninety eight," Rin answered, trying to sound as emotionless as his Father. It was an awfully difficult task to converse with him. The Demon Lord didn't like groveling, nor did he fancy those who showed too much wit. Rin needed to be in the middle, to show him he is worthy of being a Prince, and still obedient. "… to be exact, Father."

Satan ignored his reply and said: "You probably already suspected I didn't summon you here for a nice chat…"

Rin nodded solemnly. "I did, Father." This was the point where his numb shield started to crumble. He had never thought he could've maintained it for very long, knowing the reason why he was called to the Ninth Circle, but he _had _expected to keep it up for a few more sentences.

"Do you know, or maybe have a presumption as to why I have summoned you here?" Satan's void voice had become a little harsher with his question, breaking Rin's numbness even more. Lord Satan didn't like to show his emotions, which meant he would be boiling inside if his voice sounded like it just had.

Rin shook his head while trying to keep his heartbeat at a normal rate. "I do not have a clue, Father."

Satan's bored eyes hardened. "There is no use lying to me, Son. So do you mind explaining to me… why I've felt my youngest son leave this dimension… twice, in the last twenty-four hours? Especially since I thought I had an agreement with said son…"

Rin clenched his teeth. He shouldn't have tried. "I… I didn't…"

"Oh, but I'm sure you did, my son…"

"I mean, I didn't break my promise, our agreement, Father. I didn't try to possess a human, nor did I use a vial of your blood to summon the Gehenna Gate, Father."

Satan narrowed his eyes, a low growl starting to build up in his chest. Rin hid his heavily trembling hands behind his back. "Then pray tell me… _how _you managed to leave Gehenna…"

"I was…" Rin began, barely keeping the trembling fear out of his voice. He couldn't tell him about being able to be summoned fully. The shamefulness would be too much for the Father of said demon, which undoubtedly would lead to a near to death experience for said son. And Shiemi… He also couldn't because of Shiemi. Without a single grain of doubt she would be killed, and not very fast at that. His Father would take his time, or tell one of his generals to take theirs.

"I was… tired of exorcist trying to summon me, Father. I was irritated and bored, and had to… I just answered their summons and killed them, Father. I didn't do anything else, I swear. I returned once I was finished."

"Although our agreement didn't state summoning specifically… You ought to know my wishes, my son. You knew full well… You were prohibited to enter Assiah in any possible way… I never would've thought a son of mine could be so _weak _to be able to even _hear _a summoning…" The look on Satan's face had become absolutely murderous. Mur-de-rous. For a face, usually void of any kind of emotion, it was truly a terrifying sight to behold.

"I… I'm sorry, Father." Rin fell on one knee, bowing his head and clenching his teeth so hard he was afraid he would break them.

Satan stood up from his throne, walking oh so slowly towards Rin. His heart did his best trying to break through his chest. His whole body was shaking. The shaking, though, wasn't only from pure fear.

Hate.

That was what was relentlessly coursing through his veins. He was a coward. A coward who didn't dare to stand up for himself.

One day, he wouldn't put up with this anymore. One day, he would leave this rotten world and never turn back. That one day, would be when Shiemi kept her promise. Her promise of letting him stay in Assiah as long as he wanted to.

But right now? He was a _filthy_ coward, kneeling before his torturer and waiting almost eagerly for his punishment.

"Stand up, Youngest, and follow me," Satan demanded as he walked past Rin.

The Prince did as he was told and followed his Father to Room 666.

And he knew he deserved what was coming.

He was a coward after all.

* * *

**Thank you again for reading Wretched and Divine!**

**Have a nice day, night or whatever ;D**

**~Blue Goldilocks**


	4. IV - The Green Light

**Wretched and Divine**

**Here's yet another chapter of Wretched and Divine! I'm really trying to update as frequently as possible, but I have got this tiny little problem… I always know how to start, and I always know exactly how I want my story to end… but everything in the middle is just such a mush. I'm really trying, and I **_**will**_** complete this story, but if you expect me to update every week, then please, don't hold your breath for you will die of a lack of oxygen. :)**

**Also, the promised RinxShiemi stuff is about to begin in the next chapter!**

**I hope you'll enjoy the fourth chapter of my story: The Green Light**

Chapter Four

The Green Light  
***

Shiemi was diligently reading in her Demonology book (Chapter Two: How to Tell the Difference between Goblins), as suddenly someone knocked on the door of the classroom. She, just as everyone else, looked up from her only slightly interesting theory, waiting for her teacher's 'Yes?'.

The door opened, revealing a smiling ginger woman in exorcist uniform who apologized for disturbing. Shiemi almost jumped up from surprise as she recognized Hana.

"Excuse me, Mister Okumura, but could I borrow Miss Moriyama for a few minutes, please?" she asked politely, looking at Shiemi with twinkling eyes.

"Of course, no problem," answered Yukio. He gestured for Shiemi to go to the corridor.

The blonde did just that while ignoring the curious looks of her peers. When she had come to class an hour earlier, she had been bombarded with questions. (Are you alright? Why didn't you run away? Why won't anybody tell us what happened? _What _happened?) Shiemi, who wasn't used to so much attention, had stuttered that she couldn't tell them, and that they had to wait until a certain meeting was over. Throughout the class, she had gotten angry glares and puzzled looks.

Kamiki seemed the worst. It was like she couldn't get over the fact that she wasn't the only Tamer. Pity, found Shiemi. She had wanted to be her friend so badly before yesterday, but her furious looks and scowls were a clear sign she didn't want anything to do with her.

As soon as Mrs. Hideyoshi closed the door behind Shiemi, she started to speak excitedly.

"Shiemi, I just came from the meeting concerning your summon, and I have good and I have bad news. Which do you want first?"

Dread started to fill Shiemi's heart, although Hana looked like she wanted to do a happy dance.

"The bad, please," Shiemi answered curiously.

"Okay. The bad news is that you are going to be monitored by several exorcists and that Rin –it was Rin, right?- is to be tested by our doctors. He also has to meet Paladin Fujimoto… Do you think Rin is going to be okay with that? You said he was wonderful, right? So this won't be a problem?"

"I-I'll ask him. And the good news?" If _that _was the so-called 'bad news', then this only could mean one thing.

"The good news is that your summon is legalized and that you can take him where ever you want! Oh, as long as you don't leave True Cross City without us knowing."

Shiemi was overjoyed and couldn't help but grin and laugh happily. "Hana, you're simply wonderful!" she said, holding back the urge to hug the equally grinning woman before her.

"I know very well, lowly Page," Hana mimicked August Angel's voice while putting her hands on her hips and cockily raising her chin in the air.

Shiemi giggled, but then turned a little more serious.

"Thank you so much. If there is anything I can do for you, just tell me, okay?"

It was the least she could do.

"Oh, you're welcome, dear," Hana responded back in her own voice, waving her hand dismissively,"And thank you for your offer, but I seriously doubt that I will be needing anything from you as I know Paladin Fujimoto personally."

Shiemi nodded. Understandable.

"Oh, and Shiemi, you still have to keep in mind, though, that this won't be a walk in the park, okay? I still need you to train with me and as soon as you're a Esquire, you'll be trained even harder, so you can take your Tamer Master exam as soon as possible."

Shiemi nodded frevently. "I know, and I'll do my very best!"

Hana smiled kindly.

"That's good to hear. But… do be cautious. Some exorcists are going to be jealous of you, or want you to duel with them, but please, don't. Your summon might be one of the highest caliber, but _you, _Shiemi, aren't ready for such a thing."

Shiemi was confused. "Why?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow at your training, because you, young lady, should go back to your class."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then. And thank you, again, Hana."

"Yes, see you tomorrow. And really, Shiemi, it was no trouble."

* * *

Rin had heard other demons boast, one day, that it was easy to ignore pain. They said they just let their mind go blank for a few minutes, if not hours. They spread around that it was so very easy to win from pain, if you were just strong enough, had a certain amount of guts.

Well, Rin had come to the saddening conclusion that he just didn't have the right amount of guts, then. It didn't matter how hard he tried to think about something else, or to shut off his brain, he just couldn't ignore the torturing pain that was wrecking his bloody body.

Not that Rin wasn't used to it already, the frequency of the pain, that is. An agonizing torture such as this wasn't just something you 'got used to'. The feeling, the pain, was very real, and very not-ignorable.

It was exruciating.

Rin let out another tortured scream as a new set of blue flames started to ravish his body. Every single inch was covered by it, making his skin turn from the angry red, yellow, green, blue and purple, to the disturbing color black. The smell that was coming from it nestled itself in Rin's nose, just like all the other times. And just like those times, it would stay there an awfully long time, too long, making him remember.

The flames disappeared as quickly as they had come, letting his body some time to heal itself.

Rin often wondered if it was a blessing or a curse. Most demons, and most definitely most humans, would loudly yell 'blessing', but Rin knew that they would swiftly change their mind if they knew that it only meant more pain. Because, why stop the torture if the body didn't let the mind pass out? Why would one stop if the body always regenerates itself, erasing the previous wounds and making the torturer's canvas blank again?

"You know better than defying me, Youngest," Rin heard his father say next to him.

The prince couldn't bring himself to turn his head, the only thing he could focus on, was the feeling of his mending wounds and cooling skin between the still burning sensation of it. He lay on his back, on the cold, stone floor of Room 666: The Room of Punishment.

He had lost count of how many times he had been in this position, bloody and broken, but it _had _to be a record.

"Look at me when I talk to you!" Satan roared. And Rin just couldn't suppress another scream from leaving his throat as the Demon Lord pierced his left shoulder with another spear, pinning it to the ground. This was the third one, as the other two were already 'carefully' placed in his left shoulder and through his abdomen. The blood had since long stopped flowing from its wounds, but that, sadly, wasn't a relief. Rin's wounds had healed while the spears were still in them, forcing him to reopen them if he wanted to get away.

Rin slowly turned his head towards his torturer, his sight blurry because of the pain and unshed tears.

Satan kneeled right next to him, looking like his normal emotionless self. He didn't have a single spat of blood on him, no surprise, really. He was a professional, had done it too many times to make such a messy mistake as coating himself in blood. He dragged a hand through his graying, black hair, sighing tiredly.

"I thought you would've learned by now, my son," he said quietly. "I set the rules, and you obey them, is it really that difficult?"

Rin painfully swallowed the blood in his mouth and throat as he noticed his father was waiting for an answer.

"… N-no, Father," he managed to squeeze out of his raw throat.

"I won't be this forgiving the next time you decide to break my rules," Satan said as he stood up.

_Forgiving_. This had been his worst punishment ever, and still his Father still called himself _forgiving._

"You are welcome to stay in the castle for as long as you like, Son, but do try to not pester me too much, will you?" And with those unbelievable words the Lord of Demons walked out of the room.

Rin didn't have the power to be angry, indignant or even move. He wanted to go home so badly, but he couldn't bring himself to grab one of the spears with his sticky hands and reopen his wounds by pulling them out. His body wouldn't be able to handle it. Or maybe it would, but he sure as hell couldn't mentally. He needed a little more time.

He was so tired.

And although his entire body was still aching like it had never done before, his eyelids slowly but certainly became heavy. And it didn't matter that he was lying in a pool of his own blood, and he couldn't care less about his still pierced body. The only thing he could think about, was that he had never been so happy for the darkness to consume him.

* * *

As soon as the last bell of Cram School rang, Shiemi rushed out of the classroom as if it was on fire. Running again through the old corridors, she felt like she was ready to explode from happiness. She quickly opened one of the many doors of abandoned classrooms with her key and went straight to her room. The blonde threw her books on her bed and grabbed a new summoning circle from her desk.

Shiemi was sure her summon would be so happy with the good news. Although she didn't know why exactly he wanted to stay in Assiah, she knew that he had a very good reason. Because, why wouldn't he tell her if it was something insignificant?

Shiemi reopened the cut on her finger and smeared the red liquid on the runes, saying her prayer.

Just like all the other times, a wind started to blow through her room, opening the books on her bed and playing with the pages. And similar to the previous summonings, a black hole came into being, growing larger and then disappearing again. Shiemi expected him to stand in the middle of her room, looking all tall, dark and handsome with an almost emotionless face, but soft, stunning blue eyes. She expected him to appear from the black hole and ask her why she had summoned him, while looking shortly at her, and then around the room or out of her window. She expected herself to say she had good news and bad news, almost doing a little dance before telling him he could stay here. And then, she would expect the corners of his mouth to twitch upwards and ask for something to eat to celebrate.

But what Shiemi didn't expect, was hearing a hoarse, bloodcurdling scream that made her blood run cold and face grow pale.

On her dark wooden floor, where she had expected him to stand, lay Rin, cutting of his cry by clenching his sharp teeth. Her summon lay in fetal position, face screwed up in agony while pressing his in blood coated hands against his abdomen, which was not streaming, but gushing blood. There were two other holes, one just below each shoulder, from which two streams of blood were also flowing freely. His entire naked body was painted scarlet with both fresh and dried blood.

Firstly, Shiemi was nailed to her bedroom floor from the shock, from the sight of so much blood and pain. But she quickly snapped out of it, making place for a nauseating fear and panic she had never felt before. She was freaking out so much that she didn't realize she was sputtering a line of 'oh my god's until she had ripped all her sheets from her bed and was kneeling next to a trembling Rin. He wasn't breathing, but panting haggardly. Shiemi wanted to tie his wounds up with her makeshift bandages, but Rin stopped her.

"Don't," he whispered hoarsely.

Shiemi spluttered something about blood and him being mental, while still trying to bandage him up. But as soon as the cloth touched his wound, a hand gripped Shiemi's wrist with a bruising force, making her gasp in surprise and pain. Shiemi dropped the sheet and looked wide eyed at Rin's bloody hand, then at him.

He had opened his eyes and looked cogently at her. "Won't help," he panted, "just look."

Shiemi did as she was told and focused on one of the two holes under his shoulders.

She gasped. Slowly but certainly, his flesh and skin had begun to mend, had begun to heal. Shiemi had never heard of this. Maybe it was just because she had only recently started with her training, but still. She should've known about something like this. Did all demons have such quick healing? Surely not. That was impossible.

She looked back at Rin as she wanted to ask him about it, but his eyes were closed. Shiemi's panic skyrocketed as she thought the worst.

She laid a hand on his heart and felt a steady beat, it was also then Rin let out a large breath and muttered something incoherent.

Shiemi let out a sigh of relief and slumped on her backside.

He was sleeping.

What had just happened? What had happened to _him_? The blonde looked back at his sleeping face, which was now void of the agony from before. He looked calm, at peace. And like he had just witnessed a _massacre. _

Shiemi looked at his very bloody and very naked body. It was only now that she noticed –well, _really _noticed- his lack of clothing. She quickly covered his 'boy parts' with the sheets she had wanted to use and checked his body again, properly now. She needed to see if he really was fine and if everything had healed like it… not really should.

He looked fine, but she couldn't really be sure with all the blood.

As Shiemi wanted to stand up to get a washcloth and a little bowl with water, she noticed Rin was still holding onto her wrist. She smiled a little and pried his sticky fingers slowly off of her, but that smile quickly became a grimace. Those wounds… They seemed way too precise to be an accident, and then she hadn't even said anything about the blood. If he healed this quick, and his whole body was covered with... Shiemi shook her head sharply and got up. No. She didn't want to think about it yet. She was scared enough as it was.

After putting her pillow under his head, she went to the bathroom for the bowl and cloth. As she went back to her room, she saw that Rin hadn't moved a single finger. If he hadn't looked like he had just crawled out of a horror movie, Shiemi would've said that he looked like some kind of male sleeping beauty. Washing him only made that thought truer. Without the blood he simply lookedlike an angel_._ His body was so well-trained, that it looked like it was carved out by some Greek artist from the BC's, while his peaceful face was just… wow. But then Shiemi noticed a pale scar on his arm, and on his chest, and shoulder and littered over the rest of his body. She noticed… his _tail_ that was lying limply next to him. A fallen angel, was maybe more like it. How could a demon look like something divine?

Shiemi slowly washed Rin as best as she could, skipping the covered part of his body and his back as he was laying on it. She also didn't know what to do with his tail. She was fascinated by it, had never seen one this closely before, and its hairs were also very much soaked with blood. She knew the tail was the most vulnerable part of a demon, and the slightest touch to it with even a feather could wake one up. She decided to just leave it. He needed his rest, and a bloody tail wouldn't be the death of him (hopefully).

Now she just sat there next to him, looking at his angelic face and wondering. She didn't really want to speculate about what horrible things could've happened, but her imagination seemed to have gone AWOL. Deciding it wouldn't do her any good, she got up and went to fetch a new, clean blanket to cover Rin with.

She had a feeling that Rin would be out for a pretty long time.

* * *

The first thing that went through Rin's head as he started to gain consciousness, was that he really was in the need of a warm bath. His entire body ached like he had just been sparring with Amaimon, and he was pretty damn sure he hadn't been doing that for quite some time.

It was only when he had opened his tired eyes that the events of the previous night started to come back to him. Immediately, Rin was filled with a white hot anger. The hatred that was pulsing through his battered body filled his mind with all sorts of torturing revenge.

The young prince sat straight, every muscle, every nerve protested by cramping up and making him feel like shit. It was also then that he noticed that he had been lying on a hard, wooden floor.

Now the events from the previous night _really _started to come back to him.

He looked around the room for his mistress, for Shiemi, and found her sleeping fully clothed in her sheet-less bed.

Rin's bad mood disappeared and a little smile tugged at the corners of his lips. Although he hadn't really been fully prepared to be summoned before -with the spears still piercing him and all-, Rin had been unbelievably relieved when he had woken up from Shiemi's prayer. He knew that he wasn't supposed to stay here very long, not until the exorcists gave Shiemi a green light, but he would find a solution. He could hide in this house, and as her mother was home, he could just sit in Shiemi's room or closet or something.

The only thing he was absolutely positive of was that he didn't plan on going back to Gehenna any time soon. It would quite literally be the death of him. He would stay here, in Assiah, safe from his father who couldn't possess anything here without killing it instantly. He just needed to lay low and don't get into trouble with any higher class demons. And if he did come across some of them, then he just had to kill them. Not that he really wanted to, it had never been in his nature to enjoy such a thing, unlike the rest of his… well, family. But he had to if he wanted to survive, if he wanted to live.

Rin lay back down on his comfy floor and pulled his blanket to his nose.

As much as he wanted that bath, he still was too tired and sore to even think about attempting to try to make a move to get up. He would go back to sleep and give his body a little more time to work its magic. And when he woke up again, he would ask Shiemi for a bath, and some food. Oh yes, definitely some food.

And Rin drifted off to sleep with a little smile on his face, thinking about the wonderful invention of a thing named 'Assiahn food'.

* * *

The Lord of All Demons could honestly say that he didn't let his emotions out very often. And therefore it was rather peculiar that he had problems to keep them in check when his youngest son was involved.

Well, maybe it wasn't even that peculiar, for Rin looked far too much like his mother to Satan's liking. He would never admit it, not even to himself, but he had truly cared for her.

Some would say that Satan was incapable of having such a feeling, and they were right, of course. Satan would never _love_ something, let stand _someone_. He had looked at Yuri as if she were a possession, a prize, a thing. She had been something he had never wanted to lose, but only for his own selfish reasons.

He had been content with her in Assiah, at peace for a short amount of time. And it had all been shattered when he had gotten her pregnant. Getting her to bare his child was something he had never dared to think. He hadn't wanted another child, but after a while, he had decided that it could be very interesting to have a half-demon child. Half demons weren't uncommon, and thus he had heard that some of them seemed to inherit certain demonic traits of their demon fathers. Traits that usually didn't pass on from demon mother and father to demon child.

It had seemed like an ingenious idea at the time. (The possibilities!)

And his son _had_ inherited his flames, but… he had lost a more valuable trophy in exchange for it. He had never expected for Yuri to die and the sight of his son to be a thorn in his eye.

And now, he was stuck with this petty excuse of a half demon that couldn't even serve as the weapon he had thought him to be because the powers he had inherited weren't as powerful as he had firstly thought.

But he wouldn't kill his son, for he could still turn out to be a valuable asset in his war, but he had to be careful. Rin was volatile, he knew. He wasn't like all the other demons, and he had learnt it very early on. He knew for sure that if he came in contact with Assiah one too many times, that he would be lost to him.

And that was why Lord Satan's heart had skipped a beat when he had felt him disappear from his dimension. He had waited patiently for his return, and was rewarded by it only minutes later. But then, he had left again, and he had immediately called upon his highest general to search for him in Assiah. But then he had appeared _again_ on his side of the Gehenna Gate, and sent his fastest messenger towards Rin's castle.

He would have been able minimize the damage if he was quick enough, or that's what he had told himself.

And now, even after one of his severest punishment, he had vanished yet again, and hadn't returned yet.

It was then that Satan just knew he had lost him.

But he would find him.

He would punish him.

He would torture him.

And if he still didn't obey him?

Well, then there was no other option than to kill him.

* * *

**Thank you so much for following Wretched and Divine! I really hope you liked this chapter :p **

**Have a nice day, night or whatever ;D**

**~Goldilocks**


	5. V - Cultural Differences

Wretched and Divine

**Appreciation: God, I want to hug you guys so badly… Thank you so much for following this story! **

**Story Note: I don't think I've already informed you, but I'm planning to make this story about twenty chapters long. I'm only making a rough estimation, so it could be a little more or less. The real action should start around the tenth chapter, and the (fluffy?) romance should start around the same time (I'm counting out the attraction here). **

**I hope you'll like the fifth chapter: Cultural Differences! **

Chapter Five

Cultural Differences

The sound of little drops unidentified liquid echoed through the chamber in an eerie rhythm. A lone blue flame flickered in the corner of the dark room, on the verge of dying out, illuminating only vaguely what was held inside. A black stone floor, smudged with grime and since long dried blood. Rough walls with shackles, made from one of the strongest materials of Gehenna, lined up and vacant.

Except for one pair.

Two thin, raw wrists were held together above a head of long and greasy, jet black hairs. Filthy feet were dangling mere inches from the ground as if to mock the person that was longing for it.

That person was a mere boy, so thin because of malnourishment that it looked like his skin was too small for his frame, stretching over his bones and making it seem like it could rip at any second. His skeletal body was littered with angry red cuts and gashes, claw marks, the only wounds that didn't seem to heal almost immediately after they were inflicted. They were also the only ones that left scars, or as The Lord of Demons liked to call it: a reminder of his punishment.

Tears were gliding silently down the young half-demon's cheeks. Tears that he had failed to keep inside, even after how hard he tried.

No one in his right mind would ever think of blaming him. Fourteen years old, he was. A young teenager in Assiah, but an even younger child in Gehenna. A demon of his age was supposed to run or wander through the streets and fields of Gehenna, discovering the world, meeting new friends, learning while they fooled around and got their first kiss from a lovely girl –or a handsome boy for that matter. They were supposed to be free, healthy and full of energy.

But he was hanging here instead, hurting.

He had long since stopped asking himself why it always had to be him. Not only because it just didn't change anything, but also because, if he was absolutely honest with himself, he knew.

He wasn't a normal demon. He was inferior. A bastard child of a filthy human. And even though it was a secret to everyone but the royal family, that didn't mean he lived an easy life. Because it was just that what caused him all the grief. His family. Or better yet, his father. Most of his brothers never came to Hell, and the ones that did were kind enough to him, but his _father… _

Maybe it really was his own fault he was hanging here right now. If he had just shut up, he could have been traveling or something. He shouldn't have listened to Samael, now his head was full of the humans of Assiah –a thing he really shouldn't have voiced around his torture-happy father.

The boy hiccupped through his tears and tried to wipe them away by rubbing his eyes to his upper arms.

"Come on, kid-o." The boy's head shot up at the sudden sound of an all too familiar voice that rang through the once empty room. "You've cried enough, don't you think?"

The young prince let a sigh of relief escape him, ignoring the voice's question and letting another few drops roll down. Then, he laughed softly, a wide grin stretching on his face. His muscles ached, it had been such a long time since they were used, but he didn't care.

"You sure took your time, bro," Rin said hoarsely, peering through the dark to see a vague form stand in the opened door.

The person chuckled and took a few steps forward into the dim light of the blue flame. "I did, didn't I?"

The not that young demon had moss green hair, standing up and forming a ridiculous spike (one that Rin didn't dare ridicule when his older brother was present). His slightly drooping eyes were almost shining in the darkness and his bright grin let Rin remember why this was his favorite family member.

The Earth King walked towards the shackled boy, keys in hand. "But you do have to admit that it was very unlikely for you to be _hanging_ around here, little Rin," he said, stretching the 'hanging' part.

"Oh, ha-ha, I'm _so_ dying right now…" the raven haired boy replied sarcastically. "Just get me out of here, will you?" he croaked, too relieved to give the sentence the 'biting remark'-attitude.

The demon's grin just widened as he started to free his little brother.

As soon as Rin was released, he fell to the ground, hard. He hissed as he landed on his tail, letting a stinging pain climb up his spine. Rin quickly rolled on his side as he cursed Amaimon under his breath. Even if he was one of the most friendly demons he knew, he still was a sadistic bastard.

"Now let's go, tiny demon, Father's not happy I intervened with your punishment, and I'm pretty sure you don't want him changing his mind," Amaimon said while picking Rin up, bridal style.

The boy barked out a laugh, with no amusement whatsoever, as he rest his head against his older brother's shoulder.

No, he absolutely didn't want that.

* * *

As Rin opened his eyes, he had a little moment of confusion. It must've been a seven hundred years ago since that dream had been a reality. Why did he remember it right now? Missing Amaimon wasn't something Rin thought he was capable of, but it _had _been a few centuries.

The young prince groaned as he rubbed his face. Whatever, it was not like it mattered, really.

"Oh! You're up!"

Rin slowly looked up to see his softly smiling mistress standing in the doorway, dabbing her wet hairs with a towel. She wore a simple blue kimono and her almost white hair had gotten a golden color because of the shower she had probably taken. She looked a little paler than usual.

_Probably from the lack of sleep_, Rin thought, grimacing.

"Good morning, how… are you feeling?" she asked almost hesitantly. Her smile had left her rosy lips.

"Fine," he answered quickly. It was a standard answer that, just as always, escaped him without thought.

"Fine?" Shiemi asked monotonically, deadpanning. She threw her towel over the chair by her desk and went to sit by his head. She eyed him skeptically, but her eyes were also filled with something other than her skepticism, an expression he had never seen in his entire existence.

Rin sat up while staring into her light green orbs that seemed to look at his very soul –well, proverbially speaking, he was pretty certain demons didn't have such a thing-.  
He honestly _had _had worse, only not too many times. And the little soreness he was feeling right now, wasn't even worthy of a mentioning. Of course she didn't know that, but still, why did she look so troubled?

"What's wrong?" he asked tentatively.

Shiemi's jaw dropped. "W-what's… What'd you mean wi… What's WRONG?!"

Rin leaned backwards, eyes wide from surprise, as the blonde exploded in an indignant rant about how worried she had been –was- since last night.

Worried. Shiemi was _worried_.

This was a foreign concept to the young Gehennian prince as demons _never_ worried about others. The only thing they could ever worry about, was food or money or _maybe_ even a pet… But a _person_? And then there was a girl he only knew for what? Three days or so? And she… she cared?

That must've been an incredibly large difference of culture. A difference he definitely could get used to.

"… so much blood! Rin, please, how are you feeling, _honestly_?" she ended, and every concerned line of her face just screamed for him to answer truthfully.

"Just a little sore, d-don't worry," he answered, looking away from her piercing eyes.

He heard her sigh softly, was it from relief or expiration, he didn't know.

"Oh! And I… er… got you some clothes, by the way," she said after a few moments.

Rin looked questionably at her. "Clothes?"

"Well… uhm, yeah…" Shiemi started to blush slightly as she gestured at the prince's body.

Rin's eyes widened as he noticed his lack of clothes, covered by the soft blanket he had slept under. He had totally forgotten about that fact.

"These were my father's, so they probably won't fit very well. But they'll do until we can go shopping." The blonde handed him a bundle of clothes, then she stood up and went to the door. "The bathroom is the first door to the left, everything you need lies ready for you. Take your time. I'll be downstairs, in the kitchen, preparing some breakfast."

After a nod from Rin, she turned around and left the room.

The dark-haired half-demon sat a few moments without moving, without thinking. His mind had gone completely blank, as if his brain had taken a break from all the things that were happening too fast for it to follow.

It felt so unreal, sitting here like he was. On the ground of a tiny room of a human, his mistress, with someone else's clothes in his hands and about to take a bath in this small house he only had been once.

In Gehenna, he was the prince with blue flames, the loner everybody stayed away from, both from respect _and_ fear. He owned a huge castle with few servants who served him unquestionably. He had the finest food of Gehenna –liking it or not wasn't the point here- and he could buy anything he wanted.

But here in Assiah, he was the rare, unknown high-classed demon, the monster everyone stayed away from, _only _from fear. Except for Shiemi, of course. He owned nothing, and maybe even had become a servant, being the summon he was. And now, he had to depend on someone else to use their money for something as mundane as clothes.

He didn't know what he should be feeling. Irritation? Anger? Contempt? That sounded the most obvious. He wasn't going back, so he had basically lost everything he had owned or taken for granted. He would have to adapt to this new world.

The gravitation of this whole situation suddenly hit him like a wrecking ball.

_He_ _wasn't a prince anymore_. _He wasn't the son of Satan here. He would never see his father again._

He got up, not even slightly aware of his smiling lips, and decided to find Shiemi's bathroom.

* * *

As Shiemi heard the sound of the bathroom door being closed, she let out a sigh and cracked three more eggs in the bowl before her. He had said that he liked almost everything, so she'd figured he would also appreciate a simple omelet. As much as she liked to cook, she wasn't in the mood for something more difficult right now.

The blonde chewed on the inside of her cheek. A rainbow of emotions and feelings was raging inside of her: worry, sadness, stress, anger – no, _fury._ She'd become nauseous because of it.

She had only slept one measly hour before starting out of one of the worst nightmares she'd ever had. It had been dark, rotten and filled with tortured screams and cries for help. She didn't remember the details anymore, and for that she was grateful. Most of the time she got frustrated when her dreams slipped like sand through her fingers, but this time she had thanked whichever god was up there for his –or her- mercy.

Of course that had made her think even more about what could've happened. Hundreds of theories, she had made up. Was he attacked? In an accident? Hurting himself? She was pretty positive it couldn't have been an accident, but you never really knew what freaky ass accidents happened in the Shadow Dimension. And maybe the hurting thing wasn't all that realistic too. But still.

With the irony taste of blood, Shiemi forced herself to stop her nervous chewing.

She didn't dare ask him what had happened. She was afraid of his reaction as they barely knew each other, not at all actually. There was no doubt that she was going to change that, but right now she was stuck.

Was it her business or wasn't it?

Shiemi just finished the omelet as she heard the creaking steps of her old staircase, indicating Rin's arrival. She slipped his breakfast on a plate and just put it on the table as he appeared in the kitchen.

To say he looked better was undoubtedly an understatement. His black hairs were dripping on the slightly too large gray T-shirt he was tugging at, looking a little oddly at it. He was holding the dark blue sweater she had given him and was wearing the blue jeans he had rolled up once, keeping him from tripping over it.

No one could possibly see what he had been through the previous evening. Normal people would lie in the hospital for weeks after such injuries, but there was no one who said Rin was normal. He was casually walking towards the table with no visible outing of pain or unease.

"How are you feeling?" she asked as he looked up at her, his cobalt eyes clear and open. They looked different from before.

"F-… Better," he corrected himself.

Shiemi chuckled from his smooth save and gestured at the laid table. "Let's eat."

Breakfast was silent, and tense, or at least it was to Shiemi. Rin looked like he was in the seventh heaven as he ate her omelet. And as much as it pleased her, she couldn't think about anything else but last night.

Now, was it her business or not? He was her summon, so his wellbeing was one of her priorities, but on the other hand, he would probably find that everything that happened in Gehenna, should stay in Gehenna. No? Didn't Hana say demons didn't like to talk about their dimension?

Shiemi pursed her lips, frowning. If something happened to her summon, then she had the right to know.

Without thinking any further, she blurted out: "What happened to you last night?"

She watched how Rin stopped eating immediately after her words had left her mouth. As he locked his darkened eyes with hers, he slowly laid his chop sticks next to his plate. His hands were trembling slightly, she noticed.

There was a tense moment of silence, in which half-demon and mistress never glanced away from their shared gaze.

Finally, Rin opened his mouth. "Have you ever… hated someone, Shiemi?" he asked grimly. "I'm not talking about a superficial dislike. Have you ever felt true hatred?"

The blonde looked confusedly at him, then slowly shook her head. "I don't think I have."

He nodded, as if he had thought so beforehand. "If you have lived as long as I have, it's hard to not conflict with someone. Ask any demon above a certain age, and you will quickly get a list of names, unquestionably." He pushed his plate a little forward, showing clearly he was done eating.

"Even if I'm not as old as the average demon, I do have my very own list. I'm not familiar with how humans settle their differences and disputes, but I am fairly certain you don't handle your conflicts like we do."

Shiemi swallowed thickly. She knew where he was headed, and she didn't like it one bit.

"Violence and compromise are the only things we know, and," Rin let out a humorless chuckle, "I think I can safely say the compromises I had made since a long time ago had come to an end last night." He paused a moment, his eyes darkening even more. "I can also safely say that the other demon is a lot more powerful than I am."

Shiemi slowly shook her head; how she wished it wasn't true. She had seen his wounds, this couldn't be taken lightly. If that demon could hurt him so much, if he was so powerful, why wasn't Rin trembling in fear? Wouldn't it come for him?

"Aren't you scared?"

Rin's lips formed a smirk, which confused Shiemi even more.

"You… aren't?" she asked unbelievingly. She took in Rin's confident position. He had crossed his arms and was leaning backwards on only two legs of his chair.

"I'm not," he affirmed. "I'm in Assiah, and he isn't. Never will be, too."

"What makes you so certain of that? Can't all demons come here?"

The half-demon's smirk broadened. "Not all."

Now Shiemi began to comprehend the whole situation. "That's why you wanted to stay in Assiah," she stated more than asked. She had never thought his reason to be this simple, yet so severe.

Rin leaned on four legs again. "Among other reasons," he answered, his smirk becoming a wistful smile.

Shiemi was unbelievably curious for those reasons and he also hadn't told her exactly what had happened, for which reasons, why they hated each other, et cetera. But even the densest person would realize that it wasn't the right time for these questions. She would have to wait.

"And what if I told you that you couldn't stay here? What would you do then?" the blonde asked curiously.

Now his smile vanished completely, but his eyes had become challenging. "Then I would stay here anyway. I would find a solution," he ended rather strongly.

"I have the summoning circle, you know," Shiemi said offhandedly, leaning against the back of her chair confidently. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to make him distrust her, but she really wanted to know what he would do. How great was the threat? How badly did he need to stay here? … How much was she needed?

Rin narrowed his eyes. "I'm much faster and stronger than you; I would take your goddamned circle from you."

"Really?" she challenged.

"Really," he confirmed through clenched teeth. His body had tensed up completely and he looked like he was ready to throw himself at her. Even if he didn't know where she had put her circle, he was prepared to attack her if it meant he could stay here. It didn't sting; even if she had cared for him the last night, even after their agreement, because she understood what a life threatening situation could do to people.

"It's fortunate you can stay here then, isn't it?" she said with a wide smile.

"I-! What?" Rin's eyes widened from surprise, it was clear that he hadn't expected that. After the shock, he began to laugh. Shiemi's smile broadened as she saw Rin's joyous face.

After he had calmed down a bit he looked at her. "Oh, god, you had me there…"

"You okay?" she asked while doing her best not to laugh.

"Don't ever do that again, okay? All my hairs are pointing straight up, for fuck's sake!" he said, taking the last piece of omelet with his hand and putting it in his still smiling mouth.

Shiemi sighed in relief. She was glad the tension had left them. She still didn't feel right about Rin's nemesis, but it was time for a lighter conversation, a happier one.

"The meeting went well, then?" Rin asked after swallowing.

The blonde nodded. "Yep, there are only very few rules we're tied to, considering the whole 'dangerous demon' ordeal," she said while making air quotes with the dangerous demon part.

Rin grimaced. "Rules?"

"Well, yeah, we can't leave True Cross City without the Vatican knowing, we get check-ups every now and then, the Doctors want to examine you and you need to meet Paladin Fujimoto… But that's it!" Shiemi quickly added as he saw Rin's look darken again.

"I'm not going to any human Doctor here."

This was going to form a problem. She should've known Rin wouldn't accept to this, but what could they do?

"It's either this or a banishment to Gehenna," she said gravely. He needed to get his priorities straight.

The half-demon stood up, slamming both hands on the table. "I'd rather get that fucking circle from you and live a life as an exile than get tested on by your bat crazy professors!"

Shiemi gasped indignantly. It was a blow to her own dream to become a Doctor to be accused of such a foul deed. "We do no such thing!" she exclaimed as she got up from her own chair.

Rin let out a sharp laugh. "Listen, little girl, I've been around for a pretty long time, I've heard stories, I've seen the things your kind does to mine. And I'm not talking about this puny war, I'm talking about all the tortured demons who had nothing to do with all that!"

"What are you talking about?! We do no such thing as test on and torture demons!"

"You're way too naïve if you believe that, blondie!"

"I'm not naïve! You must've misinterpreted those situations! How do you even know what you heard is legit?!" she screamed back. She was sick and tired of people calling her gullible and naïve. She was a hundred percent sure of this. They. Did. Not. Test. On. Demons. And they absolutely didn't do torture! They were the good people, they would never fall that low. Maybe there were people who did such things, but they absolutely didn't. He had no right accusing the Vatican!

"I don't fucking care what you think! I'm not going to your exorcist doctor and that's final!"

They glared at each other for a moment that seemed longer than it actually was, before Shiemi closed her eyes and took a few profound breaths to calm herself. She tried to understand how Rin thought, how he felt. He'd never been to Assiah before a few days back and didn't know anything. It was normal for him to distrust 'the enemy'.

She opened her eyes again to see Rin glaring viciously at the ground. Both his teeth and fists were clenched; Shiemi could see that there was no chance for her to change his mind.

"We could talk to Paladin Fujimoto first and see what he can do," she said quietly. It was worth a try. Maybe their summoning contract was important enough for him to reconsider.

Rin's eyes shot at hers, unbelief and a little hope filling them.

"And what if he doesn't agree?" he asked after a few seconds.

Shiemi shrugged and smiled softly. "Then we will figure something out."

Rin looked at her for a moment, looking if he could trust her or not, then nodded once and relaxed. "I guess I can live with that," he replied.

There was a tense moment of silence in which both parties shuffled uncertainly on their place opposite each other.

What to do now? It was only ten o'clock and Shiemi had called her training with Hana off –lying about something in the shop- so she could stay with Rin. But now he was fine and they had had a fight, so… What to do now? It was way too tense for them to chat or get to know each other, that wouldn't work out.

"Rin?"

The half-demon looked at her with a 'mh?'.

"Do you know what a movie is?"

* * *

**Thank you so much again for reading Wretched and Divine! How was it? Feel free to leave a review! (Always helps me update sooner *wink wink*) **

**Have a nice day, night or whatever \(^o^)/**

**~Goldilocks**


	6. VI - Of hoodies and scarves

Wretched and Divine

**Appreciation: Love, that is what I am feeling for all of you guys. When I say that you guys can PM me whenever you want with it doesn't matter what for question, then I mean it. You want to chat? A pen pal? You want to talk about something or someone you can't talk about with your regular friends? : PM me. I'm serious. X **

**Story Note: I am slowly getting where I want with my story and everything is almost settled for the actual action to begin. Mh, that's all I have to say, I think.  
And don't forget: If you have suggestions and/or ideas you just have to PM me or put it in a review!**

**I hope you'll like the sixth chapter of Wretched and Divine, even if there's going to be some… trouble ;)**

Chapter Six  
Of hoodies and scarves  
*

Days went by, in which both half-demon and mistress had come to know each other quite well.

Movies, Shiemi had concluded, were the best bonding material there was. After that came playing cards, shopping, working in her grandmother's garden and ultimately: cooking. With how things were evolving, she would never ever have to prepare food again. He had never cooked before, or at least that's what he had said. Shiemi found it hard to believe that someone could be this gifted with food without a certain experience with it.

Rin was so enthusiastic about everything new, that it was almost too cute. But it was also a bit sad, how he seemed to be surprised and puzzled about every basic form of affection. Questions about how he had slept, or if he was alright after bumping his toe or head against a cupboard, was something that made him frown in confusion. Just like touching his shoulder for his attention, or smiling at him from the other side of the room, just because. But every time he returned such a gesture, it made her heart glow.

Soon, Rin had become the most hilarious person she had ever had the pleasure to meet. And even though he wasn't one for cracking jokes, his normal reactions were absolutely priceless. The looks he could give a microwave! If she had had a camera, she would've filmed it.

Everything had been arranged, also. They had spoken with Paladin Fujimoto and everything had gone well. The Paladin was a great man; there was no living soul who doubted that. He had been so relaxed! He was fine with Rin and him not wanting to go to the 'batshit crazy professors'. He had seemed to actually _like Rin. _Hana had also been present, but she didn't like him… she totally _adored _him. All the questions she had shot at him without taking one single breath… it couldn't be anything else but a record.

Everything seemed fine.

But… it was Saturday today, and Shiemi was nervously waiting for her mother to come home. She had no idea how she would react. Not positive, that was certain, but there was bad, and there was _really _bad. Nobody really liked demons, but ever since Shiemi's dad had been killed by one on duty, she had this aversion of everything demon-friendly. So… what would she say about a humanoid demon living in her house and sleeping on her couch?

She would probably get her most poisonous herbs and put it in his food when he wasn't looking.

"Are you alright?"

Shiemi turned around to see Rin standing in the doorway, holding one of her exorcist books and obviously breathing through his mouth rather than his nose; he still wasn't quite used to the smells of the shop. He was wearing his new pair of ripped jeans and black t-shirt. They'd both gotten a whole new wardrobe earlier that day, Rin since he didn't have any clothes, and Shiemi because she needed 'training-proof' ones. She'd taken Hana's warning of her physical training fairly serious, and she sure as hell was not going to run in her kimonos. Now, she was wearing a pair of light blue jeans with a slightly too large, green sweater.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she responded not too convincingly. She felt like such a hypocrite.

Frowning a little he put the book he was holding on the counter next to him. His gaze didn't leave her eyes, though, and they were filled a strange emotion Shiemi couldn't identify; the curiosity had made place for something darker.

After several seconds he asked: "I can see you're not. You seem… scared?" A weird undertone that was probably linked with his strange look, sounded in his voice.

She shrugged with only one shoulder. "I guess I am a little…" There was no point denying it. She was absolutely terrified of her mother, or rather her reaction. She should've thought more about how she was going to drop the bomb. But how many ways are there to tell your demon-hating mother your humanoid summon is going to live with you?

His frown deepened and he took a step forward. "What for? I'll deal with it for you."

Shiemi smiled sadly. It was nice of him to immediately ask to help, but what could he do, honestly? He couldn't simply 'deal with' her mother. He couldn't do anything, really.

"You don't have to deal with anything, Rin. My m-mom's coming home, and I'm just afraid t-that she'll…" She couldn't go further. She was afraid for so many things. Would she hate her? Would she throw her out? Would she disown her? Would she send her to a mental hospital?

Rin immediately tensed up. "Has she done anything to you?"

Shiemi's eyes widened when she realized what he meant. "What? No! Of course not!" the blonde exclaimed surprised.

He narrowed his bright azure eyes and seemed to look for a sign of a lie on her face. After several seconds he asked with a hint of a growl in his voice: "_Would_ she do anything to you?"

Shiemi shook her head vehemently while saying: "No, she would never do something like that!" It sent a pang through her heart that Rin immediately thought of… abuse. Was it a demon thing? Or was it a… past thing?

A look of relief replaced Rin's dark one as the tension quickly left his muscles. "Oh. Good." Then he asked puzzled: "Then… why are you stressing this much?"

She sighed sadly and looked back out of the window towards the empty bridge. "She hates demons."

He came to stand next to her, following her gaze through the cold glass.

"Which human doesn't?" the half-demon asked rhetorically.

Shiemi turned her head to look at his perfect profile.

"I mean that she'll hate _you _even if you haven't done anything."

With raised eyebrows and half of a smirk he switched his piercing gaze towards her.

"And your point is?"

"She'll be wanting you out of her house… But you can't just go, not without me. I'm afraid that she'll force me to leave also." _And that she'll hate me._

"And I assume you don't want to go?"

She shook her head. "No, not at all. I love my mother, Rin. I don't like it when she's angry with me."

Rin's eyes softened a bit at seeing hers sadden. "Don't worry, you'll survive. Even if she is going to be angry, she won't be forever. Humans forget quickly, right?"

She sighed. He was right. She wouldn't like it, but her mother would forgive her eventually. She did love her, didn't she?

"I guess, bu-" Shiemi's heart skipped a few unhealthy beats as she turned her head back forward again and saw her mother walk happily towards the front door, suitcases in hand. As her heart rate quickened, her palms instantly became sweaty and her visage as pale as a ghost's. The young Tamer jumped away from the window as if she had gotten an electrical shock and started to push Rin towards the back door, whispering shrilly: "She's here! Get inside! Cover your ears!"

"Huh, wha-?"

"She'll be more acceptant if she doesn't have to look at your demon traits! Get a hoodie or something!"

She quickly pushed him back inside the house and slammed the door shut right as the one on the front opened.

"Oh! Hello, darling, how was your we-? Oh, dear, what are you wearing, honey?"

"Good afternoon, mom!" Wincing at her overly happy –and fake- tone, she prayed to whichever god up there that her mother would be acceptant for once in her life. "I… er… decided it was time for a change of wardrobe… How was your trip?"

Mrs. Moriyama smiled brightly as she began to narrate everything that she had seen and experienced in the past few days. The shopkeeper went to the kitchen to make some exotic tea she had bought while talking to her daughter who would never be able to retell what was told. The only thing she could think about was the demon upstairs who would probably give her mother a heart attack when he came down.

"- and oh, it was simply wonderful! Next time I'll take you with me, even if you have Cram School! How did everything go here? How were your classes?"

And there it was. The moment Shiemi had been dreading.

They both sat down at the kitchen table with a steaming cup of hot water with herbs that filled Shiemi's nose with a foreign aroma, which slowly but certainly calmed her nerves. She took a sip without tasting what she smelled.

"Everything went well, better than well actually," she said after swallowing.

"How come?" her mother asked, truly interested.

No one could say she was a bad mother, but just as every human being, she had her flaws. But how big was this one?

"I think you remember that I summoned a humanoid demon last week?"

Shiemi watched as her mother's lips formed a thin line and her eyes lost their openness.

"Yes," she responded tightly.

"I've summoned him again, and... he's legalized by the Vatican, which means he now lives, well… here."

She closed her eyes in the anticipation of the explosion from the grenade she had just thrown. But the giant bomb of yells and hate just didn't go off. How had she managed to dismantle this one?

"I hope you are playing a sick joke on me, Shiemi."

Oh God. Her voice, that's usually so overly motherly, now resembled the one of an ice queen. So very cold, freezing, the temperature of an ice age that was the exact opposite of the scorching heat she had prepared herself for. This was way worse than an atom bomb.

Slowly, Shiemi opened her eyes to see the ashen and severe face of the person that had given her life. She looked nauseous, ready to faint.

"I-I'm serious, mom. He's wonderful, you won't even notice he's not a human. He-"

"Shiemi, I don't want to hear what you have to say. I don't want that thing in my house, do you understand me?"

This was going so very wrong. But she had to try.

"Mom, please, I can show you he's not what you think he is. Wait, I'll call him-"

"Shiemi, don-"

"Rin! Do you want to come down now, please?!"

Mrs. Moriyama's eyes widened with pure terror. She shot up, making her chair fall to the ground.

As Rin appeared in the kitchen, Shiemi could see that he had sensed –probably even heard- her mother's unease. He had put on a dark blue hoodie, and shuffled slowly into the room with his hands raised slightly in the air, where Mrs. Moriyama could see them. His ears were covered by his hood and he seemed to be trying not to look hostile, which was failing miserably with his slight scowl and grimace.

Shiemi swallowed thickly and gestured at her summon. "Mom, this is Rin. You don't have to be afraid of him, he's met Hana and Paladin Fujimoto. They have both approved him."

"I want it out."

"Mom, plea-"

"No. Out. Now."

The shame she felt for her own mother was something she had never imagined herself to feel. Why couldn't she see it? Why couldn't she just believe her?

With a tone as the same temperature as her mother's, she said: "I don't know what I can do to make you believe me, or the Paladin for that matter. But if you force Rin out of your house, then you'll be forcing me to leave also."

To Shiemi's surprise and horror she just ignored her, turning towards Rin.

"What do you want, demon? You _must_ have some sort of twisted reason to be here. Aren't you supposed to be off somewhere to kill innocent people? Or are you here to play some sick mind games? To trick my little girl into something awful? Why don't you just go back to your bloody dimension and leave us alone?"

Shiemi saw her summon clench his teeth, throwing a withering glare at the middle-aged woman.

"I'm not like that," he ground out.

Her mother scoffed. "Not like that? Your kind has it flowing through their veins! A _filthy _demon, that's what you are and that's what you'll always will be."

"Mom, that's enough!" Shiemi yelled indignantly at the same time as a growl started to sound from Rin's chest.

Pointing at her daughter, Mrs. Moriyama snapped viciously: "Do you see what you've done to my sweet daughter?! When the exorcists arrive here, I'll make sure they'll lock you up and then e_xecute _you!"

Something inside of Shiemi snapped. "THAT'S _IT_! Let's go, Rin!"

With all the fury that was coursing through her veins, she stomped towards the door to the shop and swung it open, making it slam against the wall with an almost satisfying 'WHACK!'. She didn't need to look back to know that Rin was following her on the foot, probably eager to leave as soon as possible.

She ignored all the yells of her mother as she stormed out of the house in the cool night air, her still growling summon in tow.

* * *

The sun was slowly setting in the peaceful city of True Cross, giving the light blue sky from before a bright red, orange and pink color. It was a beautiful sight to behold, especially for the immigrant half-demon who was used only to the different shades of blue and scarlet red for his Gehennian sundown. This dimension was so much more colorful than his own.  
He had noticed before, with all the _living _plants, paintings, pictures, and even furniture in his mistress' house, but now he had _truly _noticed.

Shiemi had left for her Cram school a few hours ago, and after watching another movie – a typical action movie with more explosions than plot- he had sought out the roof for the sunset. Those movies, Rin had decided, where the best invention he had come to know so far. He still didn't quite get how they got all those tiny humans in that little box with that camera-thing, though. Shiemi had tried to explain, but the terms she had been using still didn't make any sense to him. Just like most of the things those people had used in the films.

He still had a long way to go.

Rin let his gaze glide over the cosmopolitan landscape, another dissimilarity with his ex-home. From here, the city looked like a chaotic mess, but still strangely organized. It had something of a reversed Hell, built to the sky instead of the core of the earth.

He liked this one better.

The forests surrounding the enormous town were also so very different. It was _green _for Christ's sake, filled with all sorts of weird creatures he had never seen before. Some had certain traits of the animalistic demons back in his ex-home, but the beings here looked all so soft and friendly.

He was both looking forward to and dreading to learn about the Assiahn world. There was just so much to discover.

The ex-prince sighed as he pulled the hood of his new dark blue hoody further over his head. The lower exorcists weren't told about him yet, so he needed to cover his half-long ears at all times when he was outside. Nobody should be able to see his heritage that way, certainly not with the black cotton scarf he had wrapped around his neck and lower face, hiding his canines may he have to speak. The dark shawl smelled blissfully like his owner, and was oh so soft. All the clothes here were. He did feel a little uneasy in the new fabrics, which wasn't hard to believe after more than seven hundred years of wearing coarse, demon-made clothing.

He would definitely get used to all of this.

Rin groaned irritated as a cramp in his tail made a shock run up his spine. He should go inside and let it out, but he didn't want to leave the pleasantly cool night air –the sun had already set completely-.

_A few more minutes_, he told himself, lying down on the roof to look at the stars.

It brought back nostalgic memories, from when he was still too young to comprehend the world around him. He had gazed at the firmament a thousand times with a few… they had been more companions than friends, really. Demons didn't make such a human thing as friends. They only associated with the ones they could merit from. And being one of the Gehennian princes, many could merit from being in his favor. That didn't mean demons couldn't make fun, though, couldn't make a sort of bond. He had been quite close with three young demons; they fought together, caused mischief together and ran together if they weren't strong or smart enough. But demons go on their own way when they feel like it, and eventually, they had all disappeared into the dark, wide world.

He didn't know how long he had been lying there, remembering some of their hilarious pranks, when Rin's ears picked up the distant noise of cheap sneakers on gravel. He looked up to see his blonde savior walk towards their dorm with bouncing steps.

He took a moment to observe her. Her bright green eyes sparkled brightly, her light hairs were tousled because of the wind and the smile on her pink lips made him smile a little also. There was no doubt that she was beautiful, but that was not what fascinated him so. She just had this… aura around her. A certain radiation that drew him towards her.

Rin got up and nimbly jumped from the flat roof, landing right in front of her and making her yelp in surprise.

"How was class?" he asked, hiding his smirk behind his handy scarf.

"God, Rin… seriously? Do you want me dying from a heart attack?" she questioned shrilly with a hand on her wildly beating heart. He could hear it from where he was standing.

Rin's smirk widened. "Maybe."

She hit his shoulder playfully, trying to look indignant but not succeeding to keep a smile from her face.

"How was your evening?" she asked as they started to walk inside the building.

The ex-prince shrugged. "Okay, I guess. I just watched a movie and then kinda sat on the roof the whole time."

"The whole time?"

"Yes?"

"Isn't that boring?"

Rin shook his head, smirk growing larger. "Not really. I also read some more of your exorcist books today, and I can tell you, some things really are… well, _wrong._ I can't believe they still think we like to have rituals every week where we dance naked around large bonfires… Who makes up this stuff?"

"I don't know… But there should be _some_ truth in it, right? You really don't?"

Scratching the back of his head, he mumbled almost incoherently: "Well, uh, not as much as the books make appear."

Shiemi couldn't do anything else than erupt in laughter.

"Oh, shut it," Rin responded halfheartedly with a roll of his eyes.

After the blonde had calmed down a little and wiped a single tear from the corner of her eye, she suddenly seemed to remember something.

"Oh, Rin, I was wondering… How would you like to come with me to Cram school? You've been cooped up here for way too long."

They had moved from the shop to an old, abandoned dorm last month, after their fight with Shiemi's mother. It was dark and dusty, but it was large and pretty cozy in the two tiny rooms they had cleaned up and occupied. They could count themselves lucky Hana knew Mephisto Pheles, the headmaster of both the normal school of True Cross and the Exorcist one. Otherwise they would've never found a place where they could stay free of charge.

But Rin still couldn't leave the building, just like he was prohibited to leave the Moriyama household. Shiemi had to accompany him at all times, and now that she was constantly studying so she could enter the normal school, and doing her homework of Cram school, _and _had her training sessions with Hana, they didn't really have the time to go out.

"I… would like that. Can I really come?"

Shiemi opened the door to her little room and they both went inside.

"Yeah, Hana said it was time you came with me to training. So I figured it was time you became an active part of this world."

She shoved some open books and loose papers to the side so she could put the books in her hands on her desk.

"And everyone's okay with that?" he asked. He pulled off his hood and sat on her desk chair with skeptically raised eyebrows. "I thought only the higher ups knew about us, about me."

Shiemi pursed her lips. "They will be." Or that was what she hoped. "And they are, but that doesn't mean you can't come with me."

"What's your plan?"

After kicking off her shoes, she plopped on her bed, saying: "Well… I asked Hana to enroll you in Cram School… The only thing you need to do is keep your hood up and face covered!"

"Do you really think that'll work? Isn't that kind of suspicious?"

"Of course it'll work! There's this other guy in my class who does the same thing. Not a single… teacher is suspicious of him!" She had wanted to say 'person', but then she would've lied. The truth was that all her classmates were unbelievably weary of that guy… Not something he really needed to know, anyway.

"If you say so…"

"I do."

They stared at each other for a while, then Rin nodded.

"Okay then. I'll come with you. And what did you say about training?"

"We've started training a month ago, I think, and all we've been doing is built up my physical and psychological stamina. Now it's time to start with the 'pouring all that energy into your summon so he can fight without limitations'-part."

Rin's eyes widened.

"You have to give me energy?"

"Yes, of course. When we summon, we put an excessive amount of our energy into our summoning circles, where it stays until we rip or destroy it. That energy pulls our summons out of your dimension into ours and keeps you here. It's somewhat like a rubber band: our energy pulls you here, and when it disappears you get shot right back where you came from. And since you are technically still inhabitants of Gehenna, we also have to put our energy into your, let's say, 'demon powers' as they are putting a gigantic strain on your rubber bands. The stronger the demon powers and thus the demonic energy you emanate, the more you are linked with Gehenna, the more it 'pulls' at you, and the more energy we have to use to keep you from being shot back. You following?"

The half-demon blinked a few times, not knowing why he had never heard of this. "I… think so. What happens when your energy is used up?"

"Oh, it's never been used up, though. When our energy levels descent to the point where Gehenna pulls harder than ours plus the Circle's, you get shot back. Theoretically, we would die without a single drop of energy, but that is practically unheard of."

"Oh, that's good I guess." But what if your summon has the blue flames? How much energy would that require?

"You don't have to worry, Rin! I'm sure we can both train and keep you here as well!"

"I surely hope so…"

* * *

**Thank you again so much for reading my puny fanfic! Feel free to leave a review or add me to your favorite lists and story alerts! :p **

**Have a great day, night or whatever ;D**

**Goldilocks x**


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